ARENSKY, Anton Stepanovitch
b Novgorod, Russia, 12 July 1861
d Terioki, Finland, 25 February 1906, aged forty-four

His father was a doctor and a keen cellist, his mother an excellent pianist. In 1879 he entered the St Petersburg Conservatory, studying composition with Rimsky-Korsakov, and after graduation became professor of harmony and counterpoint at the Moscow Conservatory, where among his pupils were Rachmaninov, Skriabin and Gliere. His friends included Tchaikovsky and Taneyev. From 1888 to 1895 he directed concerts of the Russian Choral Society, then moved from Moscow to St Petersburg.
1890 (29)
fp A Dream on the Volga, opera
1894 (33)
fp Raphael, opera
1899 (38)
Nal and Damayanti, opera (completed)
Arensky also composed:
Egyptian Night, ballet
The Wolf, for bass voice and orchestra
Two symphonies, in B minor and A minor
Nearly 100 piano pieces, including three suites for two pianos and six pieces for four hands. Many string quartets, songs, vocal duets and cantatas, as well as music for unaccompanied chorus
Fantasia on Russian Folk Songs, for piano and orchestra