This composer was criticized for writing an F major string quartet that Tchaikovsky described as “filled with a host of clever things” but had a “dryly pedantic character.” For 10 points each:
[10e] Name this Russian composer who “cast the shackles off of counterpoint” in his opera May Night. He largely stayed away from counterpoint in his piece Scheherazade.
ANSWER: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov [or Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov]
[10m] A composer with this surname and first name Anton wrote that Rimsky-Korsakov may “amount to something” after listening to his quartet. His brother with this surname opened the Moscow Conservatory.
ANSWER: Rubinstein [accept Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein or Nikolai Grigoryevich Rubinstein]
[10h] During Rimsky-Korsakov's “counterpoint” era, he attended “Quartet Fridays” hosted by this Russian society, named for a music publisher. Unlike The Five, this group emphasized a Western quality to music.
ANSWER: Belyayev circle [or Belyayevski kruzhok]
<Noah Sheidlower, Auditory Fine Arts>