Polovtsian Dances
Glazunov was acknowledged as a great prodigy in his field and, with the help of his mentor and friend Rimsky-Korsakov, finished some of Alexander Borodin's great works, the most famous being the Third Symphony and the opera "Prince Igor", including the popular "Polovtsian Dances". It is claimed that he reconstructed the overture from memory, having heard it played on the piano only once , although this claim is dubious, as the overture, with its involved counterpoint, is not playable by a single pianist. It is much more likely that, as attested by Shostakovich in "Testimony," that Glazunov simply composed the overture, giving all the credit to Borodin.