The following decade showed a marked change in opinion, Rimsky-Korsakov writes. Taneyev now appreciated Glazunov, respected Borodin's work, and regarded only Mussorgsky's compositions with disdain. Rimsky-Korsakov ascribed this change to a new period in Taneyev's activity as a composer. Previously he had been absorbed mainly in research for his treatise on counterpoint, which left him little time for composition. Now he was throwing himself more freely into creative work. In doing so, Taneyev was allowing himself to be guided by the ideals of contemporary music while still preserving "his astounding contrapuntal technique".Rimsky-Korsakov, 383-384.
