The name of Vasily Vasilyevich Yastrebtsev (1866-1934) - a great admirer of the work of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, his sincere friend and assistant went down in the history of Russian musical culture as the first biographer of the composer. Yastrebtsev's diaries contain all the conversations and impressions of meetings with Nikolai Andreevich, his statements on various issues of the theory and history of music, as well as his opinions about Russian and foreign composers (often very sharp). Yastrebtsev's notes on "home" screenings of works recreate an integral picture of the creative process, the stages of which are introduced by its author. For the general reader, as well as for a researcher who wants to resurrect the multifaceted appearance of the great Russian composer, Yastrebtsev's notes are of great interest!