César Cui: Critic & General [The Mighty Handful, Pt. 4/6]

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📚 Sources/further reading:
“Story, Style, and Structure in the Operas of César Cui” by Lyle K. Neff (PhD Dissertation, Indiana University, 2002): scholarworks.i...
“Russian Elements in Selected Piano Compositions of Cesar Cui (1835-1918)” by Raymond Teele Ryder (DMA Dissertation, University of Arizona, 2001): repository.ari...
opera.stanford....
www.arkivmusic....
guides.lib.fsu....
www.kennedy-ce...
en.tchaikovsky-...
books.google.c...
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Classical Nerd is a video series covering music history, theoretical concepts, and techniques, hosted by composer, pianist, and music history aficionado Thomas Little.
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Music:
- César Cui: String Quartet No. 2, Op. 68, performed by Steve’s Bedroom Band and available on IMSLP: tinyurl.com/Ce...
- Thomas Little: Dance! #2 in E minor, performed by Rachel Fellows, Michael King, and Bruce Tippette
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All images and audio in this video are for educational purposes only and are not intended as copyright infringement. If you have a copyright concern, please contact me using the above information.

[@georginatoland]

Thank you so much for this video! I have been compiling an index of The International Library of Piano Music. Specifically what composers were included in the mid-1950s edition but completely removed in the greatly reduced mid-1970s edition. Cèsar Cui was one of the many composers cut from the 9 volume set published in 1977. But the 1955 edition includes the following works: * A la Schumann, Op. 20, No. 4 * Aveu Timide, Op. 20, No. 2 * Berceuse, Op. 20, No. 8 * Cantabile, Op. 20, No. 5 * Canzonetta, Op. 20, No. 9 * Expansion Naïve, Op. 20, No. 1 * Mazurka, Op. 20, No. 11 * Mosaïque, Op. 20, No. 7 * Orientale (from “Kaleidoscope”), Op. 50, No. 9 * Petite Marche, Op. 20, No. 10 * Petite Valse, Op. 20, No. 3 * Prelude, A-flat major * Scherzo Rustique, Op. 20, No. 12 * Souvenir Douloureux, Op. 20, No. 6 Just in case there are any Cui fans out there, looking for piano music.

[@lyleneff]

My doctoral dissertation is about Cui and his operas. The stress in Cui's last name is on the last syllable, not the first. Cui *did* compose "Russian"-(style) music in his operas and other music, particularly in the style of the Russian Orthodox Church, despite his being a Roman Catholic. As a teenager in Vilnius, Lithuania, Cui had some lessons in music theory with Polish composer Stanislaw Moniuszko. Cui's mother's name was Julia Gucewicz. The Mighty Handful consisted of 5 composers, not just 4, because Balakirev was also part of that group, (hence, The Mighty Five). "Le Flibustier" was premiered in France in the 1890s, not the 1880s. I know of a grandson named Boris (Amoretti), but not a grandson named Yury. Please enlighten me. Was most of Cui's orchestral music originally piano music? Some of it, yes, but not most.

[@ClassicalNerd]

My sources are in the description, including your dissertation. (I must commend you on its immense length, by the way; of all the dissertations I've read for this channel, it was the only one that stretched to quadruple digits of page numbers.)

[@marknieuweboer8099]

In my not so humble opinion Cui's only interesting compositions are his Violin Sonata and his Kaleidoscope. Nr.5 Orientale deserves recognition because he made better use of the theme than Tchaikovsky did with the bombastic, unsubtle and hypernationalist (!) Slavonic March.

[@authenticbaguette6673]

Napoleon .. Napoleon Bonaparte ... I guess he is now Napoleon *Blown*apart ! Ha ! Sorry .

[@murrayaronson3753]

I recently saw a performance of Little Red Riding Hood and Puss in Boots. They were wonderful and delightful. Little Red Riding Hood and Puss in Boots ought to be done more often.

[@saidtoshimaru1832]

I'm looking forward to Mussorgsky... it's gonna be wild.

[@erzsblasfantaven3334]

what's the mighty handful's favorite food? César (Cui) salad

[@dz6374]

Second, also great video!

[@iianneill6013]

Would you consider doing a video on the composer and pianist Ferruccio Busoni?

[@ClassicalNerd]

Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html

[@telephilia]

20 minutes for Cui? That's longer than the CN's clip on Wagner!

[@ClassicalNerd]

My research methods have gotten much more thorough over the years. (Plus, there's relatively little on Cui so I could be a lot more comprehensive.)

[@yumyumwhatzohai]

There's plenty of videos from all over on Wagner, not so much Cui, so let him have this one lol

[@lyleneff]

@@yumyumwhatzohai Indeed. Thank you, yumyumwhatzohai.

[@Tolstoy111]

Probably the most detailed Cui video on KZbin

[@paeffill9428]

Great upload! I am looking forward to the Glazunov as well!!

[@karlseminaro7824]

Really good 😁!!! I know I'm annoying but can you do Franz Liszt and moszkowski?

[@ClassicalNerd]

I had a Liszt video up for a while (about four years ago) but I took it down because of a) some technical problems with the audio and b) I focused about 90% on his life story instead of an even split between his wild life and his visionary music. As a consequence, I plan on remaking that video later this year (much as I remade the first, introductory video in this series), and I'm excluding remake requests from the request pool so as not to further bloat it. Moszkowski, on the other hand, has been duly noted.

[@karlseminaro7824]

👍

[@mason11198]

First *Sorry I had to* :((((( More on topic comment would say another great vid. Thanks for giving us amazing informative videos!

[@roku401]

I still hate Cui for his rachmaninoffian animosity...