César Antonovich Cui

Born Jan. 6 (18), 1835, in Vilnius; died Mar. 26, 1918, in Petrograd. Russian composer, music critic, military engineer, and scholar; engineer general (1904).

Cui graduated from the Nikolai Engineering Academy (1857) and became an instructor there (adjunct professor from 1878, professor from 1880, and honored professor from 1891).

Cui studied the theory of composition with S. Moniuszko. An important role in his development as a musician was played by his acquaintance with A. S. Dargomyzhskii, M. A. Balakirev, and V. V. Stasov. Cui was a member of the “Russian Five.” He became a music critic in 1864, expounding the principles of realism and folk character in music and championing the works of M. I. Glinka, A. S. Dargomyzhskii, and the young representatives of the “new Russian musical school,” as well as avant-garde innovative trends in foreign music.

While Cui’s opera William Ratcliff (based on H. Heine’s drama, 1869; Mariinskii Theater, St. Petersburg) reflected the progressive aesthetic formulations of the “Russian Five,” it exhibited the romantic conventionality and stiltedness that continued to characterize his later works. The composer’s creative legacy is extensive. It consists of 14 operas, including The Mandarin’s Son (1859), Angelo (based on the V. Hugo play, 1875), The Saracen (based on a play by A. Dumas père, 1898), and The Captain’s Daughter (based on the A. S. Pushkin novella, 1909); four children’s operas; works for orchestra, chamber instrumental ensembles, piano, violin, and cello; and choruses and vocal ensembles.

Cui’s most interesting works are the art songs (more than 250), characterized by lyric expressiveness, elegance, and subtle vocal declamation. “The Burned Letter,” “The Statue in Isarskoe Selo” (text by Pushkin), and “The Aeolian Harps” (text by A. N. Maikov) are among the most popular. Cui continued his systematic musical and critical activities until the beginning of the century, but his views became limited and conservative in the late 1870’s.

Cui wrote fundamental scientific works on fortification and created a course on fortification that he taught at the Nikolai Engineering Academy, Mikhail Artillery Academy, and Academy of the General Staff. He was the first Russian military engineer to suggest the use of armored turret emplacements in land fortresses. After the October Revolution of 1917, Cui went over to the side of Soviet power.