Lesser-Known Composer of the Month: César Cui

Wait, Who?

César Cui belonged to the group of Russian composers known as the Mighty Five or the Mighty Handful, but his music is almost certainly the least known of them.  He is remembered more for his music criticism than for his compositions, which often do not reach the same heights as those of his associates. 

As his name suggests, Cui was not Russian by heritage; his father was a French soldier who remained in Russia after Napoleon's failed invasion, and his mother was from Lithuania.  Although he recieved some musical training, music was not his primary education or occupation.  He studied at the military engineering academy in St. Petersburg and taught there after his graduation, becoming an acknowledged expert on fortifications.  His involvement with public musical life began in 1856, the same year he met Mily Balakirev.

As a music journalist Cui idolized Schumann and devoted himself both to supporting native talents and to attacking what the Five percieved as dogmatic musical authority, especially as represented by Anton Rubinstein and the Italians who dominated the officially suported opera company in St. Petersburg, but he was not above savaging the works of his friends when he felt necessary.

Despite his affiliations, Cui shied away from a "Russian" style in most of his own works, citing his French/Lithuanian heritage as an obstacle.  Later in his life, when he had largely faded from public view and even his friends viewed him as anachronistic, his association with early music education proponent Nadezhda Dolomanova led him to produce several childrens' operas and similar works for young performers.

Cui was most strongly drawn to vocal music and to opera in particular.  Cui completed fifteen operas, including his works for children, of which the best is generally regarded as Vil′yam Ratklif, based on Heinrich Heine's William Ratcliff.  None found a lasting place in the repertory, even in Russia.  Other larger-scale works include some cantatas and orchestral suites, but Cui was not a gifted orchestrator and otherwise preferred working in smaller and more intimate forms.

Other vocal music includes several works for unaccompanied choir and numerous songs for solo voice and piano.  He also wrote chamber music, again mostly in smaller forms, and a large number of solo piano pieces which were in part influenced by his admiration of Chopin.