Editing Mily Balakirev (section)

===Saint Petersburg Conservatory and Free School of Music===
The formation of The Five paralleled the early years of [[Tsar]] [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]], a time of innovation and reform in the political and social climate in Russia. The [[Russian Musical Society]] (RMS) and the musical conservatories in St. Petersburg and Moscow were all established at this time. While these institutions had powerful champions in [[Anton Rubinstein]] and [[Nikolai Rubinstein]], others feared the influence of German instructors and musical precepts into Russian classical music. Balakirev's sympathies and closest contacts were in the latter camp, and he frequently made derogatory comments about the German "routine" which, he believed, came at the expense of the composer's originality.<ref name="maes39">Maes, 39.</ref>

[[File:Balakirev1860s CuiIP 73 600.jpg|thumb|left|Balakirev in the 1860s]]

Balakirev was outspoken in his opposition to Anton Rubinstein's efforts. This opposition was partly ideological and partly personal. Anton Rubinstein was at that time the only Russian able to live on his art, while Balakirev had to live on income from piano lessons and recitals played in the salons of the aristocracy.<ref name="maes39"/> At stake was a viable career in music as artistic director of the Russian Musical Society.<ref name="maes39"/> Balakirev attacked Rubinstein for his conservative musical tastes, especially for his leaning on German masters such as [[Felix Mendelssohn|Mendelssohn]] and [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]], and for his insistence on professional musical training.<ref name="maes39"/> Balakirev's followers were similarly outspoken. Mussorgsky, for instance, called the Saint Petersburg Conservatory a place where Rubinstein and [[Nikolai Zaremba]], who taught [[music theory]] there, dressed "in professional, antimusical togas, first pollute their students' minds, then seal them with various abominations."<ref>As quoted in Maes, 39.</ref> There was also a petty, personal side to Balakirev's attacks. Rubinstein had written an article in 1855 that was critical of Glinka. Glinka had taken the article badly, and Balakirev likewise took Rubinstein's criticism personally.<ref name="maes39"/> Moreover, Rubinstein was of German and Jewish descent, and Balakirev's comments were at times [[Anti-Semitism|anti-Semitic]] and [[xenophobia|xenophobic]].<ref name="maes39"/>

The pro-Conservatory followers publicly called The Five "amateurs"—a justified charge, as Balakirev was the only professional musician of the group. To counteract these criticisms and to aid in the creation of a distinctly "Russian" school of music, Balakirev and Gavriil Lomakin, a local choirmaster, founded the [[Free School of Music]] ([[:ru:Бесплатная музыкальная школа|ru]]) in 1862.<ref name="cang2510"/> Like the RMS, the Free School offered concerts as well as education. Unlike the RMS, the Free School offered music education at no charge to students. The school also emphasized singing, especially choral singing, to meet the demands of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]]. Lomakin was appointed director, with Balakirev serving as his assistant.<ref>Campbell, ''New Grove (2001)'', 2:510–11.</ref> To raise funds for the school, Balakirev conducted orchestral concerts between 1862 and 1867, while Lomakin conducted choral ones. These concerts offered less conservative programming musically than the RMS concerts. They included the music of [[Hector Berlioz]], [[Robert Schumann]], [[Franz Liszt]], Glinka and [[Alexander Dargomyzhsky]], and the first works of The Five.<ref>Brown, David, ''Tchaikovsky: The Early Years: 1840–1874'' (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 1978), 126</ref>