César Cui

César Cui (1835–1918) was a Russian composer, music critic, and military engineer of French-Lithuanian descent. He was a member of the Mighty Handful, a group that sought to develop a distinctively Russian national music.

Mily Balakirev: A Russian composer and pianist who led the Mighty Handful and promoted a national school of Russian music. Balakirev brought Cui into the circle that became the Mighty Handful.
The Prisoner of the Caucasus: Cui’s three-act opera, based on a poem by Alexander Pushkin and first performed in 1883. This opera is a representative example of Cui’s stage music.
Mighty Handful: A circle of five Russian composers who pursued a national musical style in the nineteenth century. Cui’s membership defined his best-known artistic affiliation.
Russian opera: Opera composed and performed in Russia, encompassing national subjects and diverse European influences. Cui contributed several operas to a tradition strongly debated by his circle.
Modest Mussorgsky: A Russian composer whose operas and songs drew on Russian history, speech, and folk traditions. Mussorgsky shared Cui’s membership in the Mighty Handful and its national-music project.
The Saracen: Cui’s opera based on a play by Alexander Dumas, first performed in Saint Petersburg in 1899. Its historical subject shows Cui working outside the Russian folk settings favored by some peers.
Russian classical music: The tradition of concert music developed in Russia, shaped by local subjects and European forms. Cui’s composing and criticism belonged to this broader musical tradition.
Russian musical nationalism: The movement to establish a Russian identity in concert music through local themes and musical materials. Cui’s criticism helped publicize the movement’s goals and rivalries.
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: A Russian composer and teacher known for orchestral writing and operas inspired by Russian subjects. Rimsky-Korsakov was another member of Cui’s musical circle.
César Cui’s piano works: The solo piano music composed by César Cui, including character pieces and short forms. Piano works make up a substantial part of Cui’s instrumental output.

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The FiveRelated: His criticism helped articulate the group’s nationalist aims.