The day of the student concert came. I was excited to be recognised in the Conservatoire as a composer. My piece was the first item in the programme, and among the full house to listen to it were Yesipova and many friends and members of my family. I conducted, and Tcherepnin accompanied (very badly). The choir itself sang well enough and made a real effort, although quite a number of the lady pianists were not there, having defected to go to Hoffmann's concert*. Although warmly applauded, the work had only a moderate success. I had expected more, but the lack of an orchestra, the rather impoverished vocalizing of the singers and Tcherepnin's feeble accompanying all had their effect. The triumph I had anticipated turned out to be no more than a success. It was a pity, but I could not grieve too much: the real performance still lay in the future, and this evening's exercise was more in the nature of a dress rehearsal. Yesipova praised the work, and Glazunov was drunk.