With this sad event, Stravinsky became unshackled from paternal influence and revisited his dream of becoming a composer вЂ“ following Rimsky-KorsakovвЂ™s previous advice to the letter. Yet domestic circumstances conspired in his favor, as his father died just four months after his meeting with Rimsky-Korsakov. Meanwhile, youвЂ™re a friend of my son, and the son of the great Fyodor Stravinsky, so IвЂ™ll be happy to offer you my advice should you seek it out.ДЇor all intents and purposes, Stravinsky did not push composition any further. If you study with one of my students, maybe, one day, you will be good enough to study with me. He finished by adding that I could always go to him for advice, and that he was quite willing to take me in hand once I had acquired the necessary foundation.вЂќ In fact, what Rimsky-Korsakov told Stravinsky was: YouвЂ™re too old, and youвЂ™re not good enough to get into the Conservatory, nor are you worthy of my time. He further considered it necessary that my work should be systematically supervised, and that that could only be achieved by private lessons. As I was twenty, he feared that I might find myself backward in comparison with my contemporaries, and that this might discourage me. But at the same time he strongly advised me not to enter the conservatory.

He told me that before anything else, I must continue my studies in harmony and counterpoint with one or another of his pupils in order to acquire complete mastery in the schooling of craftsmanship. Alas! The way he received them was far from what I had hoped. He asked me to play some of my first attempts. Stravinsky described what happened: вЂњI told him of my ambition to become a composer and asked his advice. With VladimirвЂ™s encouragement, Stravinsky sucked up his courage and arranged an audience with the czar of Russian music to obtain an appraisal of his musical composition abilities. So it was that in 1901 Stravinsky enrolled at the Saint Petersburg Imperial University to study law.Д¬oincidently, among his classmates was Vladimir Rimsky-Korsakov, the youngest son of the great Russian nationalist composer Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844 вЂ“ 1908). Young Igor was informed that he would study law and go on to a career in the Russian civil service. Fyodor professed to see no such worthy talent in his son. His father, Fyodor Stravinsky (1843 вЂ“ 1902), was one of the outstanding operatic bass baritones of his time, and he thought himself capable of recognizing musical talent. However, in 1899, 17-year-old Stravinsky decided that he wanted to be a composer. He was a competent, though not gifted, pianist. Raised in a musical family in Saint Petersburg, Imperial Russia, Stravinsky began piano lessons at the age of 10. It is with some fortune that Stravinsky was able to compose The Firebird, as it was not evident from his early life that he would become a composer вЂ“ or even make a living in the field of music.

Stravinsky firebird