 Balakirev prompted him to enrich himself in history, literature and criticism.When he showed Balakirev the beginning of a symphony in E-flat minor that he had written, Balakirev insisted he continue working on it despite his lack of formal musical training.By the time Rimsky-Korsakov sailed on a two-year-and-eight-month cruise aboard the clipper "Almaz" in late 1862, he had completed and orchestrated three movements of the symphony.