CUI, Cesar  (1835-1918)

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Cui, César (Antonovich), Russian composer; b. Vilnius, Jan. 18, 1835; d. Petrograd, March 26, 1918. He was the son of a soldier in Napoleon’s army who remained in Russia, married a Lithuanian noblewoman, and settled as a teacher of French in Vilnius. Cui learned musical notation by copying Chopin’s mazurkas and various Italian operas; then tried his hand at composition on his own. In 1849 he took lessons with Moniuszko in Vilnius. In 1850 he went to St. Petersburg, where he entered the Engineering School in 1851 and later the Academy of Military Engineering (1855). After graduation in 1857 he became a topographer and later an expert in fortification. He participated in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877; in 1878 he became a prof. at the Engineering School and was tutor in military fortification to Czar Nicholas II. In 1856 Cui met Balakirev, who helped him master the technique of composition. In 1858 he married Malvina Bamberg; for her he wrote a scherzo on the theme BABEG (for the letters in her name) and CC (his own initials). In 1864 he began writing music criticism in the St. Petersburg Vedomosti and later in other newspapers, continuing as music critic until 1900. Cui’s musical tastes were conditioned by his early admiration for Schumann; he opposed Wagner, against whom he wrote vitriolic articles; he attacked Strauss and Reger with even greater violence. He was an ardent propagandist of Glinka and the Russian national school, but was somewhat critical toward Tchaikovsky. He publ. the 1st comprehensive book on Russian music, Musique en Russie (Paris, 1880). Cui was grouped with RimskyKorsakov, Mussorgsky, Borodin, and Balakirev as one of the “Moguchaya Kuchka’~ (Mighty 5); the adjective in his case, however, is not very appropriate, for his music lacks grandeur; he was at his best in delicate miniatures, e.g., Orientale, froni the suite Kaleidosccrpe, op. 50. A vol. of his Selected Articles (1864—1917) was publ. in Leningrad in 1953.

Woms:    6 operas premiered in St. Petersburg: The Mandarin’s Son (1859; Dec. 19, 1878); The Prisoner of the Caucasus (1857—59; rev. 1881; Feb. 16, 1883); William Ratcliff (Feb. 26, 1869); Angelo (Feb. 13,1876); The Saracen (No,v. 14,1899); The Captain’s Daughter (1907—9; Feb. 27, 1911). Other operas:

Le Flibustier (Opéra-Comique, Paris, Jan. 22, 1894); Mam’zelle Fifi (Moscow, Nov. 17,1903); Matteo Falcone (Moscow, Dec. 27, 1907). A Feast in Time of Plague, written orig. as a dramatic cantata, was produced as a 1-act opera (Moscow, Nov. 24, 1901). Children’s operas: The Snow Giant (Yalta, May 28, 1906); Little Red Ridinghood; Puss in Boots (Tifiis, Jan. 12, 1916); Little Ivan the Fool. Orch.: Tarantella (1859); Marche solennelle (1881); Suite miniature (1882); Suite concertante for Violin, and Orch. or Piano (1884); 2 morceaux for Cello, and Orch. or Piano (1886); Suite No. 2 (1887); Suite No. 4, A Argenteau (1887); Suite No. 3, In modo populari (1890); 3 Scherzos (op. 82; 1910). Chamber: 3 string quartets (c.1890, 1907, 1913); 5 Little Duets for Flute and Violin; violin pieces:

2 Miniatures; Violin Sonata; Petite Suite; 12 Miniatures (op.

20); Kaleidoscope, 24 numbers; 6 Bagatelles (op. 51); many songs; piano pieces; choruses. Cui contributed a number to a set of variations on “Chopsticks” (with Borodin, Liadov, and Rimsky-Korsakov). From 1914 to 1916 Cui completed Mussorgsky’s opera The Fair at Sorotchinsk.