Georgi Conus

[6] On the eve of his death, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky wrote a letter with the intent on it being published in the local newspaper, Vedomosti, praising Conus's musical mastery showcased in his latest suite, Scènes Enfantines, Op.1 (1893).

However, the letter was not sent, but became famous after Tchaikovsky's death, and Conus was awarded by Tsar Nicholas II an annual stipend of 1200 rubles "as long as he continues his compositional activity" (quoted from the letter of the Application Department of His Majesty's Cabinet at the Moscow Conservatory of March 26, 1894, stored in Konyus' personal file at the Moscow Conservatory).

Additionally, in 1902 he began acting as the director of the Music and Drama School of the Moscow Philharmonic Society, although being dismissed in 1905 alongside contemporaries like Boleslav Yavorsky.

In 1919, he rejoined the Moscow Conservatory and remained there as a teacher for the rest of his life, although for ten years (1921-31), he acted as the head of the Laboratory of Metrotectonic Analysis of the State Institute of Music Science.

Tchaikovsky thought so highly of his promise that he obtained for him the Tsar's annual stipend of 1200 rubles awarded to deserving musicians.

Eventually, word of the conflict grew and support for Conus' advocacy for theoretical work came from luminaries like Tchaikovsky, Eduard Nápravník, and Rimsky-Korsakov.