César Cui

César Cui was a busy man.

He was a famous music maker. He also worked as a general in the army. He taught soldiers how to build strong walls.

Cui loved to write music. He wrote many operas. An opera is a play with music. He also wrote many articles about music. He wanted to help Russian music grow.

He was part of a group called The Five. This group wanted to make music that felt Russian.

They worked together to share new sounds.

Cui was very good at many things. He even wrote books for his job in the army. He also wrote songs for his wife. His music was very special to many people.

He lived a long and active life. Even when he could not see, he still made music. He was a man who loved to create.

César Cui was a man of many talents.

He lived a very busy life. He was a famous music maker. He was also a high-ranking officer in the army. He held the rank of general. In his army job, he taught people how to build strong walls. These walls are called fortifications. He even wrote textbooks about them.

Cui loved to make music too. He was part of a group called The Five. This group wanted to make music that sounded Russian. He wrote many operas, which are plays that use music. Some of his famous operas include *The Prisoner of the Caucasus* and *Puss in Boots*. He also wrote many articles about music. He used these writings to help new Russian music grow.

Cui was a very hard worker. He wrote nearly 800 articles about music. He even made music for his wife, Malvina. Later in life, Cui went blind. He still made music by telling others what to write. He died in 1918. He is buried near his fellow group members.

César Cui was a man with two very different lives.

One life was spent as a high-ranking officer in the Russian army. He rose to the rank of Engineer-General, which is like being a full general. He spent many years teaching how to build fortifications, which are strong walls and defenses. He even wrote textbooks to help his students learn.

His other life was filled with the sounds of music. He was a composer and a music critic. He was also a member of a group called The Five. This group of composers wanted to create a special type of music that sounded truly Russian.

Cui's journey into music began when he was a young boy in Vilnius. He took piano lessons and studied the works of the composer Chopin. At age fourteen, he began writing his own small musical pieces. He even had lessons in music theory with the Polish composer Stanisław Moniuszko. His musical path changed in 1856 after he met Mily Balakirev.

In 1859, he made his public debut as a composer. This happened when his orchestral piece, the Scherzo, Op. 1, was performed. He was a very busy man who wrote many different things. He wrote nearly 800 articles about music and concerts during his life.

Cui's family history was a mix of many different cultures. He was born in Wilno to a Catholic family. His father, Antoine Cui, was French and had come to Russia with Napoleon's army. Because of his family, the young César grew up speaking French, Polish, Russian, and Lithuanian.

He married a woman named Malvina Bamberg in 1858. She was a singer, and he even wrote music dedicated to her. He used her name to help create themes in his music. They had two children, Lidiya and Aleksandr.

As a composer, Cui wrote many operas, which are plays told through music. Some of his most successful stage works were *The Mandarin's Son* and *The Prisoner of the Caucasus*. His opera *The Prisoner of the Caucasus* was even performed in Liège in 1886. This was the first time any music by The Five was heard outside of Russia. He also wrote a children's opera called *Puss in Boots*. Even though he was a critic, he was also a very prolific composer. He was even honored by the Académie Française and the Belgian Royal Academy.

Cui's work helped shape the way people thought about Russian music. As a critic, he used his writing to support new Russian composers. He often wrote with a sharp sense of humor and sarcasm.

He even helped finish an opera by his colleague, Mussorgsky. In his final years, Cui went blind in 1916. He did not stop making music, though. He used dictation to tell others the notes he wanted to write. He died in 1918 and was buried near his friends from The Five.

César Antonovich Cui was a man who lived two distinct, highly successful lives.

He was a prominent Russian composer and an influential music critic. At the same time, he served as a high-ranking officer in the Imperial Russian Army. He eventually reached the rank of Engineer-General, which is equivalent to a full general. Cui was a key member of The Five. This was a group of composers who worked together to create a uniquely Russian style of music. He was also part of the Belyayev circle, a group of musical artists.

Cui's professional military career was built on his expertise in fortifications. Fortifications are strong structures used for defense in warfare. He graduated from the Chief Engineering School in 1855. Later, he completed advanced studies at the Nikolaevsky Engineering Academy. He spent many years as an instructor at three different military academies in Saint Petersburg. His students included several members of the Imperial family, most notably Nicholas II. He gained important frontline experience during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. By 1880, he held the academic rank of professor. In 1906, he attained the military rank of general. He even wrote several widely used textbooks on the subject of military fortifications.

His musical life began in Vilnius, where he was born into a Catholic family of French and Polish-Lithuanian descent. As a child, he learned French, Polish, Russian, and Lithuanian. He studied piano and the works of Frédéric Chopin. At age fourteen, he began composing small musical pieces. He received music theory lessons from the Polish composer Stanisław Moniuszko. In 1856, meeting Mily Balakirev changed his musical direction toward more serious involvement. His public debut occurred in 1859 with his orchestral Scherzo, Op. 1. This piece was performed by the conductor Anton Rubinstein through the Russian Musical Society.

Cui was a prolific composer of operas, which are dramatic stories told through music. Most of his operas used Russian texts. His first opera, *William Ratcliff*, premiered in 1869. While it was not a major success, it earned praise from the famous composer Franz Liszt. Other notable works included the comic opera *The Mandarin's Son* in 1878. He also wrote *The Prisoner of the Caucasus* in 1883 and *Mademoiselle Fifi* in 1903. One of his works, *The Prisoner of the Caucasus*, was performed in Liège in 1886. This was the first time a work by The Five was performed outside of Russia. He even composed a children's opera titled *Puss in Boots*, which was performed in Rome in 1915.

Beyond composing, Cui was a powerful voice in music journalism. Between 1864 and 1918, he wrote nearly 800 articles for various publications. About 300 of these articles focused on the world of opera. Because of his military status, he originally had to use a pseudonym. He used three asterisks (***) to hide his identity in print. His writing was often known for its sarcasm and sharp wit. He used his platform to promote contemporary Russian composers. However, he could be very critical of his peers. He famously wrote a harsh review of Modest Mussorgsky's opera *Boris Godunov* in 1874. He also criticized Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's opera *The Oprichnik*.

Cui's influence extended to the leadership of musical institutions. He served on the opera selection committee at the Mariinsky Theatre. In 1883, he and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov left the committee in protest. They did this because the committee rejected Mussorgsky's *Khovanshchina*. From 1896 to 1904, he was the director of the Petersburg branch of the Russian Musical Society. He also helped his colleagues by completing Mussorgsky's unfinished opera, *The Fair at Sorochyntsi*. His dedication to Russian music earned him many international honors. He was elected to the Académie Française and the Belgian Royal Academy of Literature and Art.

In his personal life, Cui married Malvina Rafailovna Bamberg in 1858. She was a singer, and he dedicated several musical works to her. They had two children, Lidiya and Aleksandr. In 1916, Cui lost his sight. Despite this, he continued to compose by using dictation to record his ideas. He died on March 26, 1918, from cerebral apoplexy. He was originally buried next to Malvina at the Smolensky Lutheran Cemetery. In 1939, his body was moved to the Tikhvin Cemetery. There, he lies beside his fellow members of The Five.