Glazunov's Symphony No. 4 (1893), dedicated to Anton Rubinstein, is representative of the composer's lifelong attempt to achieve some measure of reconciliation between the nationalist and traditional schools of music that found themselves at odds in Russia in the late nineteenth century. Rimsky-Korsakov found the work, particularly its orchestration, somewhat cumbersome; other critics, however, hailed it as a masterpiece and a sign of the rebirth of Glazunov's creativity.

The pastoral nature of the symphony's first movement takes as its point of departure a hauntingly beautiful and fundamentally Russian theme for the oboe. The Scherzo is dominated by a rustic, rhythmic dance-like motive. Glazunov's mastery at marshalling the orchestra's components into a cogent whole is clearly evident in the final Andante-Allegro. Here, the music builds inexorably to a stunning, majestic conclusion, echoing the natural splendor of the Caucasus Mountains that inspired the work.

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