e Russians Balakireff was an
amateur, but in the true sense of that term, _i.e._, he loved music
for its own sake. He therefore set to work vigorously to combat
foreign influences and to manifest in original works a spirit true to
his own genius and to the tendencies of his native land. Though
educated as a lawyer he had acquired through a study of Mozart,
Berlioz and Liszt a thorough technique and so was equipped to put into
practise his watchword which was individual liberty. "I believe in the
subjective, not in the objective power of music," he said to his
pupils. "Objective music may strike us with its brilliancy, but its
achievement remains the handiwork of a mediocre talent. Mediocre or
merely talented musicians are eager to produce effects, but the ideal
of a genius is to reproduce his very self, in unison with the object
of his art. There is no doubt that art requires technique, but it
must be absolutely unconscious and individual.... Often the greatest
pieces of art are rather rude technically, but they grip the soul and
command attention for intrinsic values. This is apparent in the works
of Michelangelo, of Shakespeare, of Turgenieff, and of Mozart. The
beauty that fascinates us most is that which is most individual. I
regard technique as a necessary but subservient element. It may,
however, become dangerous and kill individuality as it has done with
those favorites of our public, whose virtuosity I despise more than
mere crudities." Balakireff's actual works are few in number since he
spent most of his time in organizing schools of music and in teaching
others; but in those works which we have[317] there is a strong note
of freedom not to be missed. His Symphonic Poem _Tamara_ and his
fantasy for pianoforte _Islamey_ are remarkable for that semi-oriental
exotic spirit so prevalent in Russian music. Many of his songs also
are of genuine beauty.

[Footnote 317: Towards the end of his life he destroyed many of his
compositions.]

Borodin (1834-1887) is the ne plus ultra example of that versatility
in which the modern Russian School is unique. As a surgeon and doctor
he enjoyed a high position; as a chemist he made original researches
and wrote treatises which were recognized as distinct contributions to
science; he was one of the earliest scholars in the world to advocate
that women should have the same education as men and was one of the
founders (about 1870) of a medical school for women in Petrograd. So
t