Anatoly Lyadov

"Anyone who dared to depart from the conventional path was bound to incur his [Lyadov's] wrath. Thrusting his hands into his pockets and swaying back and forth... , he [Lyadov] would say, ‘I cannot understand why you bother to study with me. Go to Richard Strauss, go to Debussy.’ He might as well have said, ‘Go to the devil.’"