 Compared to the "revolutionary" composers in Balakirev's circle, Rimsky-Korsakov found those in the Belyayev circle to be "progressive ... attaching as it did great importance to technical perfection, but ... also broke new paths, though more securely, even if less speedily ..."

In November 1887, Tchaikovsky arrived in Saint Petersburg in time to hear several of the Russian Symphony Concerts.One of them included the first complete performance of his First Symphony, subtitled "Winter Daydreams", in its final version.Another concert featured the premiere of Rimsky-Korsakov's Third Symphony in its revised version.