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Anton Rubinstein - A Life in Music 113 PDF
Anton Rubinstein - A Life in Music 113 PDF
In his reminiscences,
Dmitry Stasov recalled that the artistic committee established a tradition (pos-
sibly even supported by a resolution) that each concert would include at least
one work by a Russian composer,23 which posed a problem. At that time the
Balakirev circle was only just beginning to show that it was a signicant force
in Russian music, and, besides the music of Glinka and Dargomzhsky, there
were few established names. The Society tried to encourage native talent and
works by Baron Fitinghof-Shel and Nikolay Afanasyev, composers now almost
completely forgotten, briey found their way onto RMS programs.24 Despite
such efforts, the critics of the concerts accused them of being too Teutonic and
of failing to encourage Russian music.
When the directors of the RMS received the letter of resignation, the ma-
jority of the chorus members submitted a petition, threatening to disband