Profiles Russia's "Mighty Handful" or "The Five" - Balakirev, Mussorgsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov and Cui.
The "Mighty Handful" or "The Five" was a group of Russian composers dedicated to writing music with specifically Russian flavor. It consisted of Mily Balakirev, César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Alexander Borodin.
Their collaboration began in 1856, with the first meeting of Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev and César Cui. Balakirev was responsible for bringing the group together. Modest Mussorgsky joined them in 1857. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov joined in 1861, and Alexander Borodin, in 1862.
Balakirev (1837-1910)
Mily Balakirev is best-known for Islamey: An Oriental Fantasy, usually popular among pianists. He was largely self-taught in music and entered the university as a mathematics student. In 1855 he went to St. Petersburg and met Glinka, his great influence. He organized the founding of the Russian Free School of Music and became the father-figure of the "Mighty Handful" or "The Five." He became principal conductor of the Russian Music Society and director of music at the Imperial Chapel.
Borodin (1833-1887)
Alexander Porfirevich Borodin was the illegitimate son of a Georgian prince, Luka Semyonovich Gedeanishvili, who had him registered as the son of one of his serfs, Porfiry Borodin. Born in St. Petersburg, he had a good musical education but gained a degree in medicine and pursued a career in chemistry. In 1869, he turned from working o his second symphony to begin his opera Prince Igor, based on a 12th century Slavic epic poem. He worked on it for seventeen years and still left it incomplete at his death. It was completed posthumously by Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Glazunov, it is not widely known outside Russia, apart from the Polovtsian Dances. His String Quartet No. 2 is popularized by film "Kismet."
Cui (1835-1918)
César Cui was a French army officer. He studied military engineering and was appointed professor after graduation in 1857. He held the rank of Lieutenant-General of Engineers. It was a meeting with Balakirev that started him with composing. He began writing on music, along with his witty literary criticisms.
Mussorgsky (1839-1881)
Modest Mussorgsky was the child of a wealthy family, descended from the first Russian ruler, Rurik. His intended career was a military officer, but resigned his commission in 1858 and assisted in a production of Glinka's A Life for the Tsar. After several abandoned opera projects, he began work on Boris Godunov, a psychological study of the disturbed Tsar on a story by Pushkin. It was finally produced in St. Petersburg in 1874. It was not critically acclaimed marked the peak of his career. His health declined due to alcoholism. Boris Godunov was revised by Rimsky-Korsakov in 1896 and again in the 20th century by Shostakovich, who adapted it for film.
Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was a nature of Novgorod. He studied at the Imperial Naval College, becoming an officer in the Russian navy. A prolific composer, he wrote fifteen operas with subjects ranging from historical drama to folk opera, fairytales, and legends. He is best known for orchestral selections, such as "Flight of the Bumble Bee" from The Tale of Tsar Sultan. Outside Russia, Rimsky-Korsakov's operatic works are famous, including The Golden Cockerel, with the exception of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov.
Sources:
Dictionary of Composers and their Music by Eric Gilder, Sphere Reference (1987)
The Encyclopedia of Music by Max Wade-Matthews & Wendy Thompson, Hermes House (2002)
The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music, edited by Stanley Sadie, Macmillan (1994)
