Anton Arensky (1861-1906)

Arensky studied composition under Rimskykorsakov at the St Petersburg Conservatory. On graduating, he became professor of harmony and counterpoint at the Moscow Conservatory. His First Symphony (1883) was greatly admired by Tchaikovsky, with whom he soon became a close friend, submitting his latest compositions for the older composer’s constructive criticism. Arensky is most widely remembered for the two elegiac works he composed in 1894: the Piano Trio No. 1, written in memory of the cellist Karl Davydov, and the String Quartet No. 2 in memory of Tchaikovsky.