 Rimsky-Korsakov wrote that "May Night" was of great importance because, despite the opera's containing a good deal of contrapuntal music, he nevertheless ""cast off the shackles of counterpoint" [emphasis Rimsky-Korsakov]".He wrote the opera in a folk-like melodic idiom, and scored it in a transparent manner much in the style of Glinka.Nevertheless, despite the ease of writing this opera and the next, "The Snow Maiden", from time to time he suffered from creative paralysis between 1881 and 1888.