Composer César Cui Biography
Russian Military Officer and Engineer, Music Critic, Writer
Sep 28, 2007
A military engineer, composer, writer and music critic, César Cui (Russian of French origins), was born in Vilnius on January 18, 1835. His father was a French army officer. At age 23, he married Malvina Bamberg, with whom he had two children.
Army Engineer
Cui studied military engineering, and after graduation in 1857 became an army engineer by profession, when he was appointed sub-professor and held the rank of Lieutenant-General of Engineers.
Balakirev and The Mighty Handful
A meeting with Balakirev, founder of 'The Five' group of nationalist Russian composers, started him on serious composition. Balakirev encouraged his talent for opera and greatly helped him with orchestration. He became an advocate of the Russian nationalist music in his writings for the Russian press and journals, at the same time a member of Glinka-inspired 'The Five' or 'The Mighty Handful' including Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Alexander Borodin and Modest Mussorgsky.
The Russian Composer
Cui composed in all genres except symphony and symphonic poems unlike his other fellow members of 'The Five.' He wrote interesting piano and vocal music, opera, including A Prisoner in the Caucasus, first performed in 1883, and William Ratcliff, first performed in 1869. His favorite poet is Pushkin of which he based some of his famous songs, including "The Statue at Tsarskoye Selo" and "The Burnt Letter."
He completed Mussorgsky's opera Sorochintsy Fair.
Writer and Music Critic
In 1864, he began writing articles on music, and his witty and literary criticisms were an important part of his life's work. Despite his bigoted wit and acidic criticisms, much of his own music strikingly contrasts with nationalist principles.
His operas reveal strong influences of composers Auber (French) and Meyerbeer (German), while his art songs (duets and songs for children) and numerous piano pieces he is best known for, displays strong attraction with Chopin.
Last Years
He went blind two years before his death, and died from cerebral apoplexy in St. Petersburg, 14 March 1918, aged 83.
Cui's musical works
- Orchestral, Scherzo for orchestra 1857 (dedicated to his wife)
- Opera, The Caucasian Prisoner 1858
- Tarantella 1859
- Opera, The Mandarin's Song 1859 (dedicated to his wife)
- Opera, William Ratcliffe 1869
- Opera, Angelo 1875-6
- Suite Concertante, for violin and orchestra 1883
- Orchestral, Deux Morceaux, for cello and orchestra, 1886
- Opera, Le Filibuster 1888-9
- Opera, The Saracen 1899
- Opera, Feast in Time of Plague 1901
- Opera, Matteo Falcone 1907
- Opera, The Captain's Daughter 1911
- Opera, Little Red Riding Hood 1911
- Opera, Ivan the Fool 1913
- Opera, Puss-in-Boots (from Perrault) 1915
César Cui's Published works
- Revue et gazette musicale de Paris, Journals and newspapers
- La musique en Russie, book 1880
Suggested CDs
- A Feast in Time of Plague, Chandos, Russian State SO, V. Polyansky
- Russian Romances, DG-4775743, Cui: The Burnt Letter, Op. 33 No.4
Sources:
The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, edited by Stanley Sadie (2000)
Dictionary of Composers and their Music by Eric Gilder, Sphere (1987)
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