Tchaikovsky
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Anton Arenskii (1861–1906)

Anton Arenskii

Russian composer, conductor, and pianist (b. 30 June/12 July 1861 in Novgorod; d. 12/25 February 1906 at Perkijarvi, near Terijoki, Finland [now Zelenogorsk, Russia]), born Anton Stepanovich Arenskii (Антон Степанович Аренский, Anton Stepanovič Arenskij, Anton Stepanovich Arensky),

In 1882 Arenskii graduated from the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, where he had studied composition under Nikolai Rimskii-Korsakov, and until 1894 he was a professor at the Moscow Conservatory, where his students included Sergei Rakhmaninov and Aleksandr Skriabin. From 1895 to 1901 he was director of the Imperial Chapel Choir in Saint Petersburg.

One of Arenskii's best-known compositions is his Variations on a Theme of Tchaikovsky, Op. 35a, which uses the melody of  Legend—No. 5 of Tchaikovsky's Sixteen Songs for Children, Op. 54 (1884).

Tchaikovsky's correspondence with Anton Arenskii:

• 8 letters from Tchaikovsky to Anton Arenskii have survived, dating from 1884 to 1891.