Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov spent most of his boyhood in a military school -- a naval school, to be exact. Once in the navy, however, he seemed more inspired by music than by mastheads. While on his first tour, he wrote a symphony that was refined and performed less than one year afte
Like many composers, Giacomo Puccini was born into a family of musicians who actively encouraged his musical talent from the time he was a child. Although Puccini's father, Michele, died when he was six, the boy felt much of his influence at the Istituto Musicale where the father had taught, and wher