January 14, 2013.Even though César Cui was a minor composer, we decided to mention him because he was a member of The Five (or the Mighty Handful, as they are also known), a group ofRussian composers organized by Mily Balakirev, whose birthday we celebrated last week.Cui’s father, a Frenchman, entered Russia with Napoleon’s army, and after its catastrophic defeat settled in Vilnius, Lithuania.That’s were César was born, on January 18, 1835.As a boy he received piano lessons, but at the age of 15 was sent to St-Petersburg to prepare for engineering school, which he eventually entered.Upon graduating, he became quite famous for his work on military fortifications; he also taught at several engineering schools.But all along music was his real love, and he expressed it through composing and criticism (Cui wrote more than 800 articles, some of which were quite influential at the time).He composed several operas; these days are rarely staged, although Liszt seemed to have like one of them, William Ratcliff.Cui also wrote a large number of songs, some quite exquisite.Here’s one, The statue in Tsarskoye Selo, Op.57, no. 17 on a poem by Alexander Pushkin.Recorded in 1954, it is sung by a 25 year-old Nikolai Ghiaurov who at the time was still studying at the Moscow Conservatory; a year later his career was launched.Ghiaurov of course became one of greatest basses of the 20th century.The portrait of Cui on the left is by Ilya Repin.
Cui’s French connection leads to two composers who were also born this week: Chabrier and Chausson.Emmanuel Chabrier was born in a small town in Auvergne on January 18, 1841.His family moved to Paris when Emmanuel was 15.Even though he was taking music lessons since he was six, his family felt that he should pursue a career in law, for which he was preparing while still in Auvergne.In Paris he entered law school, and upon graduating in 1861 Chabrier became a civil servant with the Interior Ministry.But, not unlike Cui, his real passion was music.He made friends with several young composers, Fauré, Chausson, and d'Indy among them, but also with the leading Impressionst painters, such as Manet, Monet, and Degas: Chabrier started collecting their art early and left behind a large collection of contemporary French art).He also became friends with a number of writers Zola, Daudet, and Mallarmé among them.In 1882 Chabrier visited Spain and a year later wrote his most popular orchestral work, España.You can listen to it here, with Igor Markevitch conducting the Orchestra ofSpanish Radio & Television (courtesy of YouTube).
Chabrier’s friend Ernest Chausson was 14 years his younger: Chausson was born on January 20, 1855.His father Prosper was a wealthy contractor who helped Baron Haussmann to rebuild Paris.To please his father, the young Chausson, like Chabrier, studied law, but had very little interest in it.Ernest tried to write and paint, and then at the age of 25 started taking classes in composition with Jules Massenet at the Paris Conservatory.One of Chausson’s best-known works is Poéme, Op. 25.You can listen to it here, performed by Judy Kang , violin, and Kay Kim, piano.
Last week we mentioned the birthday of yet another Frenchman (and one of our favorites), Francis Poulenc.Here is his Piano Concerto in C sharp minor.The pianist is Jean-Bernard Pommier, with The City of London Sinfonia, Richard Hickox conducting.
Mostly French (2013)
January 14, 2013. Even though César Cui was a minor composer, we decided to mention him because he was a member of The Five (or the Mighty Handful, as they are also known), a group of Russian composers organized by Mily Balakirev, whose birthday we celebrated
last week. Cui’s father, a Frenchman, entered Russia with Napoleon’s army, and after its catastrophic defeat settled in Vilnius, Lithuania. That’s were César was born, on January 18, 1835. As a boy he received piano lessons, but at the age of 15 was sent to St-Petersburg to prepare for engineering school, which he eventually entered. Upon graduating, he became quite famous for his work on military fortifications; he also taught at several engineering schools. But all along music was his real love, and he expressed it through composing and criticism (Cui wrote more than 800 articles, some of which were quite influential at the time). He composed several operas; these days are rarely staged, although Liszt seemed to have like one of them, William Ratcliff. Cui also wrote a large number of songs, some quite exquisite. Here ’s one, The statue in Tsarskoye Selo, Op.57, no. 17 on a poem by Alexander Pushkin. Recorded in 1954, it is sung by a 25 year-old Nikolai Ghiaurov who at the time was still studying at the Moscow Conservatory; a year later his career was launched. Ghiaurov of course became one of greatest basses of the 20th century. The portrait of Cui on the left is by Ilya Repin.
Cui’s French connection leads to two composers who were also born this week: Chabrier and Chausson. Emmanuel Chabrier was born in a small town in Auvergne on January 18, 1841. His family moved to Paris when Emmanuel was 15. Even though he was taking music lessons since he was six, his family felt that he should pursue a career in law, for which he was preparing while still in Auvergne. In Paris he entered law school, and upon graduating in 1861 Chabrier became a civil servant with the Interior Ministry. But, not unlike Cui, his real passion was music. He made friends with several young composers, Fauré, Chausson, and d'Indy among them, but also with the leading Impressionst painters, such as Manet, Monet, and Degas: Chabrier started collecting their art early and left behind a large collection of contemporary French art). He also became friends with a number of writers Zola, Daudet, and Mallarmé among them. In 1882 Chabrier visited Spain and a year later wrote his most popular orchestral work, España. You can listen to it here, with Igor Markevitch conducting the Orchestra of Spanish Radio & Television (courtesy of YouTube).
Chabrier’s friend Ernest Chausson was 14 years his younger: Chausson was born on January 20, 1855. His father Prosper was a wealthy contractor who helped Baron Haussmann to rebuild Paris. To please his father, the young Chausson, like Chabrier, studied law, but had very little interest in it. Ernest tried to write and paint, and then at the age of 25 started taking classes in composition with Jules Massenet at the Paris Conservatory. One of Chausson’s best-known works is Poéme, Op. 25. You can listen to it here, performed by Judy Kang , violin, and Kay Kim, piano.
Last week we mentioned the birthday of yet another Frenchman (and one of our favorites), Francis Poulenc. Here is his Piano Concerto in C sharp minor. The pianist is Jean-Bernard Pommier, with The City of London Sinfonia, Richard Hickox conducting.