Editing Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (section)

===1905 Revolution===
In 1905, demonstrations took place in the St. Petersburg Conservatory as part of the [[Revolution of 1905|1905 Revolution]]; these, Rimsky-Korsakov wrote, were triggered by similar disturbances at [[St. Petersburg State University]], in which students demanded political reforms and the establishment of a [[constitutional monarchy]] in Russia.<ref name="rimsky411">Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', p. 411.</ref> "I was chosen a member of the committee for adjusting differences with agitated pupils", he recalled; almost as soon as the committee had been formed, "[a]ll sorts of measures were recommended to expel the ringleaders, to quarter the police in the Conservatory, to close the Conservatory entirely".<ref name="rimsky411"/>

[[File:Repin 17October.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Ilya Repin]], ''[[October Manifesto|17 October 1905]]'']]
A lifelong liberal politically,<ref name="mfw21405">Frolova-Walker, ''New Grove (2001)'', 21:405.</ref> Rimsky-Korsakov wrote that he felt someone had to protect the rights of the students to demonstrate, especially as disputes and wrangling between students and authorities were becoming increasingly violent. In an open letter, he sided with the students against what he saw as unwarranted interference by Conservatory leadership and the Russian Musical Society.<ref name="rimsky411"/> A second letter, this time signed by a number of faculty including Rimsky-Korsakov, demanded the resignation of the head of the Conservatory. Partly as a result of these two letters he wrote, approximately 100 Conservatory students were expelled and he was removed from his professorship.<ref name="rimsky412">Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', p. 412.</ref>

Just before the dismissal was enacted, Rimsky-Korsakov received a letter from one of the members of the school directorate, suggesting that he take up the directorship in the interest of calming student unrest. "Probably the member of the Directorate held a minority opinion, but signed the resolution nevertheless," he wrote. "I sent a negative reply."<ref>Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', p. 478.</ref> Partly in defiance of his dismissal, Rimsky-Korsakov continued teaching his students from his home.<ref>Taruskin, ''Stravinsky'', 1:386.</ref>

Not long after Rimsky-Korsakov's dismissal, a student production of his opera ''[[Kashchey the Immortal]]'' was followed not with the scheduled concert but with a political demonstration,<ref name = "abng1632"/> which led to a police ban on Rimsky-Korsakov's work.<ref name="abng1632">Abraham, ''New Grove (1980)'', 16:32.</ref> Due in part to widespread press coverage of these events,<ref name="mfw21406">Frolova-Walker, ''New Grove (2001)'', 21:406.</ref> an immediate wave of outrage against the ban arose throughout Russia and abroad; liberals and intellectuals deluged the composer's residence with letters of sympathy,<ref>Leonard, p. 167.</ref> and even peasants who had not heard a note of Rimsky-Korsakov's music sent small monetary donations.<ref name="mfw21405"/> Several faculty members of the St. Petersburg Conservatory resigned in protest, including Glazunov and Lyadov.<ref>Frolova-Walker, ''New Grove (2001)'', pp. 405–406.</ref> Eventually, over 300 students walked out of the Conservatory in solidarity with Rimsky-Korsakov.<ref name="maes178"/> By December he had been reinstated under a new director, Glazunov.<ref name="mfw21406"/> Rimsky-Korsakov retired from the Conservatory in 1906.<ref>Taruskin, ''Stravinsky'', p. 73.</ref> The political controversy continued with his opera ''[[The Golden Cockerel]]''. Its implied criticism of monarchy, Russian imperialism and the [[Russo-Japanese War]] gave it little chance of passing the censors.<ref name="maes178"/> The premiere was delayed until 1909, after Rimsky-Korsakov's death, and even then it was performed in an adapted version.<ref name="maes178">Maes, p. 178.</ref>

[[File:Rimsky-Korsakov Grave.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=A large stone Russian cross with a figure carved on it, behind two stone tablets set into the ground|Rimsky-Korsakov's grave at [[Tikhvin Cemetery]] in the [[Alexander Nevsky Monastery]]]]
In April 1907, Rimsky-Korsakov conducted a pair of concerts in Paris, hosted by impresario [[Sergei Diaghilev]], which featured music of the Russian nationalist school. The concerts were hugely successful in popularizing Russian classical music of this kind in Europe, Rimsky-Korsakov's in particular. The following year, his opera ''Sadko'' was produced at the [[Paris Opéra]] and ''The Snow Maiden'' at the [[Opéra-Comique]].<ref name="mfw21406"/> He also had the opportunity to hear more recent music by European composers. He hissed unabashedly when he heard Richard Strauss's opera ''[[Salome (opera)|Salome]]'', and told Diaghilev after hearing Claude Debussy's opera ''[[Pelléas et Mélisande (opera)|Pelléas et Mélisande]]'', "Don't make me listen to all these horrors or I shall end up liking them!"<ref name="mfw21406"/> Hearing these works led him to appreciate his place in the world of classical music. He admitted that he was a "convinced kuchkist" (after ''kuchka'', the shortened Russian term for The Five) and that his works belonged to an era that musical trends had left behind.<ref name="mfw21406"/>