Cui, César

views updated Jun 11 2018

Cui, César [ Kyui, Tsezar Antonovich] (b Vilna (now Vilnius), 1835; d Petrograd, 1918). Russ. composer. Son of Fr. army officer. Studied mus. with Moniuszko in 1850 but concentrated on military engineering at univ., becoming Lieut.-Gen. of engineers and authority on fortifications (prof. of engineering, St Petersburg Acad. of Military Engineering from 1878). On meeting Balakirev in 1856, found he shared his nationalist mus. ideals and with him joined group known as ‘the Five’ or the ‘Mighty Handful’ (the others were Borodin, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov). Although a prolific composer, his biggest contribution to the cause of the Five was through his excellent and witty (and sometimes caustic) writings. Comp. ov. for Dargomyzhsky's The Stone Guest and made a version of Mussorgsky's incomplete Sorochintsy Fair (prod. Petrograd, 1917). Prin. comps.: 15 operas (incl. William Ratcliffe, 1961–8), 2 scherzos for orch., 3 str. qts., vn. sonata, choral mus., many songs, and pf. pieces.