Critic Vladimir Stasov, who along with Balakirev had founded The Five, wrote in 1882, "Beginning with Glinka, all the best Russian musicians have been very skeptical of book learning and have never approached it with the servility and the superstitious reverence with which it is approached to this day in many parts of Europe."
O crítico Vladímir Stásov, quen fundou xunto con Balakirev o grupo dos Cinco, escribiu en 1882: "comezando con Glinka, todos os mellores músicos rusos mostráronse moi escépticos sobre a aprendizaxe dende os libros, e nunca o abordaron co servilismo e a veneración supersticiosa con que se aborda na actualidade en moitas partes de Europa".