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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's relations with the group of composers known as the Belyayev circle, which lasted from 1887 until Tchaikovsky's death in 1893, influenced all of their music and briefly helped shape the next generation of Russian composers. This group was named after timber merchant Mitrofan Belyayev, an amateur musician who became an influential music patron and publisher after he had taken an interest in Alexander Glazunov's work. By 1887, Tchaikovsky was firmly established as one of the leading composers in Russia. A favorite of Tsar Alexander III, he was widely regarded as a national treasure. He was in demand as a guest conductor in Russia and Western Europe, and in 1890 visited the United States in the same capacity. By contrast, the fortunes of the nationalistic group of composers known as The Five, which preceded the Belyayev circle, had waned, and the group had long since dispersed; of its members, only Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov remained fully active as a composer. Now a professor of musical composition and orchestration at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, Rimsky-Korsakov had become a firm believer in the Western-based compositional training that had been once frowned upon by the group. As a result of the time Tchaikovsky spent with the Belyayev circle's leading composers—Glazunov, Anatoly Lyadov and Rimsky-Korsakov—the somewhat fraught relationship he had previously endured with The Five would eventually meld into something more harmonious. Tchaikovsky's friendship with these men gave him increased confidence in his own abilities as a composer, while his music encouraged Glazunov to broaden his artistic outlook past the nationalist agenda and to compose along more universal themes. This influence grew to the point that Glazunov's Third Symphony became known as the "anti-kuchist" symphony of his ouvre ("kuchist" refers to "kuchka", the shortened Russian name for The Five) and shared several stylistic fingerprints with Tchaikovsky's later symphonies.〔 Nor was Glazunov the only composer so influenced. Rimsky-Korsakov wrote about the Belyayev composers' "worship of Tchaikovsky and ... tendency toward eclecticism" that became prevalent during this period, along with a predilection toward "Italian-French music of the time of wig and farthingale" (that is, of the 18th Century) typified in Tchaikovsky's late operas ''The Queen of Spades'' and ''Iolanta''.〔 Over the long term, Tchaikovsky's influence over the Belyayev composers was not as great. Though they remained more eclectic in their musical approach and focused more on absolute music than The Five had done, they continued writing overall in a style more akin to Rimsky-Korsakov than to Tchaikovsky. Even Glazunov backed away from echoing Tchaikovsky strongly in his mature work, instead amalgamating nationalistic and cosmopolitan styles in an eclectic approach. The Belyayev composers also spread the nationalist musical aesthetic to Russia as a whole and were themselves an influence on composers well into the Soviet era. ==Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov== During 1884, the 44-year-old Tchaikovsky began to shed the unsociability and restlessness that had plagued him since his abortive marriage in 1878, and which had caused him to travel incessantly throughout Russia and Western Europe. In March 1884, Tsar Alexander III conferred upon him the Order of St. Vladimir (fourth class), which carried with it hereditary nobility,〔 and won Tchaikovsky a personal audience with the Tsar.〔 The Tsar's decoration was a visible seal of official approval, which helped Tchaikovsky's rehabilitation from the stigma associated with the conditions of his marriage.〔Brown, ''New Grove (1980)'', 18:621.〕 This rehabilitation may have been cemented in the composer's mind with the success of his Third Orchestral Suite at its January 1885 premiere in St. Petersburg, under Hans von Bülow's direction.〔 Tchaikovsky wrote to his patroness Nadezhda von Meck: "I have never seen such a triumph. I saw the whole audience was moved, and grateful to me. These moments are the finest adornments of an artist's life. Thanks to these it is worth living and laboring."〔As quoted in Brown, ''Man and Music'', 275.〕 The press was likewise unanimously favorable.〔Brown, ''Man and Music'', 275.〕 While he still felt a disdain for public life, Tchaikovsky now participated in it for two reasons—his increasing celebrity, and what he felt was his duty to promote Russian music.〔Wiley, ''New Grove (2001)'', 25:162.〕 To this end, he helped support his former pupil Sergei Taneyev, now director of the Moscow Conservatory, by attending student examinations and negotiating the sometimes sensitive relations among various members of the staff.〔 Tchaikovsky also served as director of the Moscow branch of the Russian Musical Society during the 1889–90 season. In this post, he invited a number of international celebrities to conduct, including Johannes Brahms, Antonín Dvořák and Jules Massenet.〔 Tchaikovsky promoted Russian music both in his own compositions and in his role as a guest conductor.〔 In January 1887 he substituted at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow on short notice for the first three performances of his opera ''Cherevichki''.〔Holden, 261; Warrack, ''Tchaikovsky'', 197.〕 Conducting was something the composer had wanted to master for at least a decade, as he saw that success outside Russia depended to some extent on conducting his own works.〔Brown, ''Crisis Years'', 133.〕 Within a year of the ''Cherevichki'' performances, Tchaikovsky was in considerable demand throughout Europe and Russia, which helped him overcome a life-long stage fright and boosted his self-assurance.〔Holden, 266; Warrack, ''Tchaikovsky'', 232.〕 Tchaikovsky's relationship with Rimsky-Korsakov had gone through changes by the time he visited St. Petersburg in November 1887. As a member of The Five, Rimsky-Korsakov had been essentially self-educated as a composer.〔Brown, ''Crisis Years'', 228.〕 He regarded Tchaikovsky with suspicion since he possessed an academic background and did not agree with the musical philosophy espoused by The Five.〔Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', 75.〕 However, when Rimsky-Korsakov was appointed to a professorship at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory in 1871, he recognized that he was ill-prepared to take on such a task.〔Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', 117.〕 He had also reached a compositional impasse, and realized he was essentially on a creative path leading nowhere.〔Brown, ''Crisis Years'', 228–229; Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', 117–118.〕 He sent a letter to Tchaikovsky in which he outlined his situation and asked what he ought to do.〔Brown, ''Crisis Years'', 228–229; Taruskin, 30.〕 The letter "deeply touched and amazed" Tchaikovsky with its poignancy.〔 As Tchaikovsky later relayed to Nadezhda von Meck, "Of course he had to study".〔As quoted in Brown, ''Crisis Years'', 229.〕 Between 1871 and 1874, while he lectured at the Conservatory, Rimsky-Korsakov thoroughly grounded himself in Western compositional techniques,〔Abraham, ''New Grove (1980)'', 16:29.〕 and came to believe in the value of academic training for success as a composer.〔Maes, 170; Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', 119.〕 Once Rimsky-Korsakov had made this turn-around, Tchaikovsky considered him an esteemed colleague, and, if not the best of friends, was at least on friendly terms with him.〔 When the other members of The Five became hostile toward Rimsky-Korsakov for his change of attitude, Tchaikovsky continued to support Rimsky-Korsakov morally, telling him that he fully applauded what Rimsky-Korsakov was doing, and admired both his artistic modesty and his strength of character.〔Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', 157 ft. 30.〕 Beginning in 1876, Tchaikovsky was a regular visitor to the Rimsky-Korsakov home during his trips to Saint Petersburg.〔 At one point, Tchaikovsky offered to have Rimsky-Korsakov appointed to the directorship of the Moscow Conservatory, but he refused.〔Taruskin, 31.〕 Tchaikovsky's admiration extended to Rimsky-Korsakov's compositions. He wrote Rimsky-Korsakov that he considered ''Capriccio Espagnol'' "a colossal masterpiece of instrumentation" and called him "the greatest master of the present day".〔As quoted by Taruskin, 31.〕 In his diary, Tchaikovsky confided, "Read ()Korsakov's ''Snow Maiden'' and marveled at his mastery and was even (ashamed to admit) envious".〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and the Belyayev circle」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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