Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and The Five - Drawing Sides

Drawing Sides

Despite Glinka's gaining international attention, the admiration of Liszt and Berlioz for his music and his heralding by the latter as "among the outstanding composers of his time", Russian aristocrats remained focused exclusively on foreign music. The stratification of Russian society hindered Russia's development of classical music. Musicians belonged among the lowest ranks in society, with no official status and no more rights than peasants. Painters, sculptors and actors were considered "free artists." Musicians were not. Unless a musician was also a wealthy aristocrat, the only way he could earn a living was to teach in an academy or work in one of the Imperial Theaters. In both cases, he served the Russian state on the lowest level of the hierarchy.

Music itself was bound by class structure, as well, and held only a modest role in public life. It was still considered a privilege of the aristocracy and remained largely in the European-styled salons of the major palaces. Nobles spent enormous sums on musical performances for their exclusive enjoyment and hosted visiting artists such as Clara Schumann and Franz Liszt. There were no ongoing concert societies, no critical press and no public eagerly anticipating new works. No competent level of music education existed. Private tutors were available in some cities but tended to be badly trained. Anyone desiring a quality education had to travel abroad.

Composer and pianist Anton Rubinstein's founding of the Russian Musical Society in 1859 and the Saint Petersburg Conservatory three years later were giant steps toward remedying this situation but also highly controversial ones. Critic Vladimir Stasov and a group of amateur composers called The Five, who believed in developing Russian music independent of European practices, saw Rubinstein's efforts as antipathetic and fought against him. Rubinstein did not fight back. Instead, he concentrated on shepherding his premiere class of students through the Conservatory and did not allow them to take sides. Among this group was a young legal clerk named Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.