Because of this change, the Third has been called the "anti-kuchkist" symphony in Glazunov's output (kuchkist from kuchka, the shortened Russian name for the nationalist music group The Five).
The Third also shows a greater depth of expression, most evident in the chromatic turns of its third movement, reminiscent of Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde.
Woodwinds Brass Percussion Strings Four movements make up the work: Although the earliest sketches of this work date to 1883, the symphony was an example of Glazunov's effort to break away in a larger form from the nationalist style that animated the compositions of The Mighty Handful (then the most important musical influence in Russia) to reflect what Glazunov felt to be universal forms, moods and themes.
He had already explored this desire in smaller works such as the Poem lyrique for orchestra (1881-7), a piece much admired by Tchaikovsky, as well as in the elegy To the Memory of a Hero (Pamyati geroya) (1881-5).
Later, when Pyotr Ilyich had long departed this world, I always remembered his words, and in my subsequent production I always took pains to pay heed to them.