While he was the direct successor to Balakirev's nationalism, he tended more towards Borodin's epic grandeur while absorbing a number of other influences.

Mily Balakirev, former leader of the nationalist group "The Five", recognized Glazunov's talent and brought his work to the attention of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

"Casually Balakirev once brought me the composition of a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old high-school student, Alexander Glazunov", Rimsky-Korsakov remembered.

[6] While part of this development may have been from Rimsky-Korsakov's need to find a spiritual replacement for Modest Mussorgsky, who had died that March, it may have also been from observing his progress on the first of Glazunov's eight completed symphonies[6] (he left a ninth unfinished at his death).

[citation needed] More important than this praise was that among the work's admirers was a wealthy timber merchant and amateur musician, Mitrofan Belyayev.

[9] Buoyed by the success of the rehearsal, Belyayev decided the following season to give a public concert of works by Glazunov and other composers.

To help select from their offerings, Belyayev asked Glazunov to serve with Rimsky-Korsakov and Lyadov on an advisory council.

He conducted the last of the Russian Historical Concerts in Paris on 17 May 1907, and received honorary Doctor of Music degrees from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

While this assertion cannot be confirmed, it is not implausible for a man who, according to Shostakovich, kept a bottle of alcohol hidden behind his desk and sipped it through a tube during lessons.

[15] Drunk or not, Glazunov had insufficient rehearsal time with the symphony and, while he loved the art of conducting, he never fully mastered it.

He would sometimes joke, "You can criticize my compositions, but you can't deny that I am a good conductor and a remarkable conservatory Director".

[18] After the end of World War I, he was instrumental in the reorganization of the Conservatory—this may, in fact, have been the main reason he waited so long to go into exile.

[16] During his tenure he worked tirelessly to improve the curriculum, raise the standards for students and staff, as well as defend the institute's dignity and autonomy.

[1] Glazunov showed paternal concern for the welfare of needy students, such as Dmitri Shostakovich and Nathan Milstein.

Because of his reputation, the Conservatory received special status among institutions of higher learning in the aftermath of the October Revolution.

Glazunov established a sound working relationship with the Bolshevik regime, especially with Anatoly Lunacharsky, the minister of education.

[14] The previous year, Olga's daughter Elena Gavrilova had been the soloist in the first Paris performance of his Piano Concerto No.

In 1928, Elena had married the pianist Sergei Tarnowsky, who managed Glazunov's professional and business affairs in Paris, such as negotiating his United States appearances with Sol Hurok.

[citation needed] Glazunov's most popular works nowadays are his ballets The Seasons and Raymonda, some of his later symphonies, particularly the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth, the Polonaise from Les Sylphides, and his two Concert Waltzes.

He was adopted as an idol by nationalist composers who had been largely self-taught and, apart from Rimsky-Korsakov, were deeply distrustful of academic technique.

Although he based his compositions on Russian popular music, Glazunov's technical mastery allowed him to write in a sophisticated, cultured idiom.

He also collaborated with the choreographer Michel Fokine to create the ballet Les Sylphides, a suite of music by Frédéric Chopin orchestrated by Glazunov.

Sergei Diaghilev briefly considered Glazunov to compose the music for his ballet The Firebird after failing to interest his first choice, Anatol Lyadov, before he eventually commissioned Igor Stravinsky instead.

[28] In his 1935 autobiography, Igor Stravinsky admitted that, as a young man, he greatly admired Glazunov's perfection of musical form, purity of counterpoint and ease and assurance of his writing.

He was not alone in this prejudice—their mutual teacher Rimsky-Korsakov was as profoundly conservative by the end of his life, wedded to the academic process he helped instill at the Conservatory.

He carefully monitored his progress in Steinberg's class and, in awarding him his doctorate, recommended Shostakovich for a higher degree which normally would have led to a professorship.

[38] Glazunov also arranged for the premiere of Shostakovich's First Symphony, which took place on 12 March 1926 with the Leningrad Philharmonic under Nikolai Malko.

In another instance of déjà vu with Glazunov's early life, the symphony caused almost as much of a sensation as the appearance of the 19-year-old Shostakovich on the stage awkwardly taking his bow.