César Cui, one of the group of five nationalist Russian composers of the second half of the 19th century known as The Five or The Mighty Handful, was the son of a French officer who had remained in Russia after the retreat of Napoleon in 1812. In common with other composers of his generation and background, he had a career apart from music, in his case as a professor at the Academy of Military Engineering, an expert in fortification. This did not prevent him from ambitious activity as a composer and an important career as a critic, often harsh and intolerant in his judgements. He is best known for his colourful short piano pieces.

Operas

Cui’s first opera was A Prisoner in the Caucasus, with a libretto based on Pushkin. Particularly pleasing to his friends and supporters was the opera William Ratcliff, based on the play by Heine. After further operas which enjoyed varying success, Cui wrote four children’s operas between 1905 and 1913.

Orchestral Music

In his four orchestral suites Cui demonstrates his ability in the handling of attractive smaller forms, belying contemporary accusations of a lack of skill in orchestration. Suite No. 4 offers orchestral arrangements of piano pieces written originally for his Belgian patroness, the Countess of Mercy-Argenteau. The Suite concertante for violin and orchestra makes an unusual addition to solo violin repertoire.

Chamber Music

Cui’s chamber music includes various shorter pieces for violin and piano or cello and piano, notably two sets of Miniatures for violin and piano, as well as three string quartets.

Piano Music

In his piano music Cui again shows his gifts as a miniaturist in a large number of attractive short pieces.

Vocal and Choral Music

Cui claimed that he was in general compelled in his operas to avoid Russian subjects, since he was himself half French and half Lithuanian. His songs, of course, do treat Russian texts and include settings of Pushkin, Nekrasov and A.K. Tolstoy, while his choral music is generally on a more ambitious scale.