Editing Mily Balakirev (section)

===Breakdown and return to music===
[[File:Mily Balakirev.jpg|thumb|Balakirev in his later years]]
In the spring of 1871, rumors circulated that Balakirev had suffered a nervous breakdown.<ref name="cang 2511"/> Friends who visited him found no trace of his former self; in place of his former vivacity, energy and drive, they found him silent, withdrawn and lethargic.<ref>Abraham, ''New Grove (1980)'', 2:49; Zetlin, 225–6.</ref> Borodin wrote to Rimsky-Korsakov that he wondered whether Balakirev's condition was little better than insanity. He was especially concerned about Balakirev's coolness toward musical matters, and hoped he would not follow the example of author [[Nikolai Gogol]] and destroy his manuscripts.<ref>Zetlin, 235.</ref> He took a five-year break from music,<ref name="maes45">Maes, 45.</ref> and withdrew from his musical friends,<ref name="cang 2511"/> but did not destroy his manuscripts; instead he stacked them neatly in one corner of his house.<ref>Zetlin, 231.</ref> In his mental state, he neglected to give up his post as director of the Free Music School, and the directors of the school were at a loss as to what to do.<ref name="rimsky152">Rimsky-Korsakov, 152.</ref> He finally resigned in 1874 and was replaced by Rimsky-Korsakov.<ref name="rimsky152">Rimsky-Korsakov, 152.</ref>  Nikolai Rubinstein offered him a professorship at the [[Moscow Conservatory]] but he refused, stating that his musical knowledge was basically empirical and that he did not have enough knowledge of [[music theory]] to take on such a position.<ref name="zetlin236">Zetlin, 236.</ref> Financial distress forced Balakirev to become a railway clerk on the [[Warsaw]] railroad line in July 1872.<ref name="cang 2511"/>

In 1876, Balakirev slowly began reemerging into the music world, but without the intensity of his former years.<ref name="cang 2511"/> Stasov wrote Rimsky-Korsakov in July that Balakirev was busy composing his symphonic poem ''Tamara'' but still did not wish to see any of his old musical circle, "for there would be talks about music, which he would not have under any circumstances. Nevertheless, he inquires about everything with interest..."<ref>Rimsky-Korsakov, 166 ft. 16.</ref> Balakirev also began sending individuals to Rimsky-Korsakov for private lessons in [[music theory]].<ref name="rimsky166">Rimsky-Korsakov, 166.</ref> This paved the way for Rimsky-Korsakov to make occasional visits to Balakirev.<ref name="rimsky166">Rimsky-Korsakov, 166.</ref> By the autumn, these visits had become frequent.<ref>Rimsky-Korsakov, 169.</ref> Also, Lyudmilla Shestarova asked him to edit Glinka's works for publication, in consort with [[Anatoly Lyadov]] and Rimsky-Korsakov.<ref name="cang 2511"/>

In 1881, Balakirev was offered the directorship of the Moscow Conservatory, along with the conductorship of the Moscow branch of the Russian Musical Society. Perhaps keeping in mind his experience with the Saint Petersburg branch of the Russian Musical Society years earlier, he declined the position. Instead, he resumed the directorship of the Free School of Music.<ref name="cang2512">Campbell, ''New Grove (2001)'', 2:512.</ref> In 1882, he finished ''Tamara'' and revised his "symphonic picture" ''1,000 Years'' two years later, retitling it ''Rus''.<ref name="maes167">Maes, 167.</ref> In 1883, he was appointed director of the Imperial Chapel; Rimsky-Korsakov eventually became his assistant. He held this post until 1895, when he took his final retirement and composed in earnest. Between 1895 and 1910 he completed two symphonies, a piano sonata and two movements of his [[Piano Concerto No. 2 (Balakirev)|Second Piano Concerto]], along with republishing his collection of folk-song arrangements.<ref name="maes168">Maes, 168.</ref>

[[Image:P3264411 balakirev lg.jpg|thumb|180px|Balakirev's grave at [[Tikhvin Cemetery]]]]
While Balakirev resumed musical Tuesday gatherings at his home by the 1880s, it was music patron [[Mitrofan Belyayev]] who became a fixture of the Russian classical music scene at this time. Some composers, including [[Alexander Glazunov]] and Rimsky-Korsakov, initially attended these meetings. However, Balakirev's modest gatherings eventually proved no match for Belyayev's lavish Friday gatherings, nor could he compete with the commissions, prizes and performances that Belyayev offered.<ref name="cang2512"/> Balakirev did not take advantage of Belyayev's services in these areas, as he felt that they promoted inferior music, and lowered the quality of Russian music.<ref name="cang25123">Campbell, ''New Grove (2001)'', 2:512–3.</ref> Musicologist [[Richard Taruskin]] asserted that another reason Balakirev did not participate with the [[Belyayev circle]] was that he was not comfortable participating in a group at which he was not at its center.<ref>Taruskin, ''Stravinsky'', 49.</ref> The exception to this was Balakirev's collection of folk songs, to which Belyayev bought the rights after the death of the songs' initial publisher.<ref name="cang25123"/> Otherwise, Balakirev remained without a publisher until 1899, when he met the Saint Petersburg music publisher J.H. Zimmermann. It was through Zimmermann's efforts that Balakirev prepared several works for publication, including his two symphonies.<ref name="cang2513">Campbell, ''New Grove (2001)'', 2:513.</ref>

Unlike his earlier days, when he played works in progress at gatherings of The Five, Balakirev composed in isolation. He was aware that younger composers now considered his compositional style old-fashioned.<ref name="maes168">Maes, 168.</ref> Except initially for Glazunov, whom he brought to Rimsky-Korsakov as a prodigy, and his later acolyte [[Sergei Lyapunov]], Balakirev was ignored by the younger generation of Russian composers.<ref name="cang2513"/>

Balakirev died on 29 May 1910 and was interred in [[Tikhvin Cemetery]] at the [[Alexander Nevsky Monastery]] in [[Saint Petersburg]].