Borodin, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Balakirev, Cui – composers without whom the music of the world seems inconceivable. They were the ones to unite to form a remarkable alliance, in the 60-ies of the 19th century. Today we refer to that group as the “Mighty Five”.

At the time the notion of various possible ‘alliances’ of people belonging to one and the same profession was very popular, permeating the atmosphere not only in Russia. Writers, artists, musicians – all embraced the notion. So did what form the essence of these collaborations? A joint discussion of various emerging ideas, creation of new ‘projects’ as we’d refer to them today; even a joint delving into the mysteries of their beloved profession. In the opinion of the musicians, who actually formed the “Mighty Five”, their fate would have been quite different if they hadn’t all met up at one point in their lives.

Just imagine, all of them were amateur musicians. Like many Russians, they simply loved music, had been well taught the elementary basics. At the time it was quite the norm to know a lot of music, to be able to play quite decently. As for taking this up professionally, they never even dreamed of anything of the kind. Each one of them had received a thorough education in a certain non-musical profession. Rimsky-Korsakov was a naval officer, Borodin – a chemist, Cui – a military engineer, Mussorgsky – an officer of the Russian army…

As they all admitted, it was their encounter with Miliy Balakirev that totally changed their lives. For this man was the generator of all ideas of the future “Mighty Five”. He was the man who forced his friends to take a closer and more serious look at music. And they all began as if from the beginning – by tackling the basics of composing. Balakirev became their teacher…

They all resided in St.Petersburg. They met practically every day. However, lessons continued even if one of them needed to be away due to one’s main line of work. Rimsky-Korsakov, setting off on a round-the-world sea journey aboard a military vessel, continued to send his composing efforts to Balakirev. In this unusual manner there emerged his symphonic tableaux “Sadko”, which later took on the appearance of the now world-famous eponymous opera.

Borodin is the author of the famous opera “Prince Igor”. He regarded his friends and colleagues as rightful co-authors of his opera. Indeed, almost every line of it was written under pressure from them! Borodin was an acclaimed chemist (his discoveries to this day are among the fundamental ones for this science!). Chemistry claimed most of his time, leaving practically no time at all for music. His friends launched their attack – and thus yet another episode of his opera was written!

Borodin never did manage to complete his opera “Prince Igor”. After his demise it was his friends – Rimsky-Korsakov and Cui - who completed it, making use of the remaining rough copies.

The original concept for the opera “Boris Godunov” by Mussorgsky was also born due to joint efforts and searchings. “The Mighty Five” was particularly interested in Russian history, and one of its most tragic periods, connected with the name of Czar Boris, couldn’t be overlooked by them. All existing literature on the matter was thoroughly studied by them, all leading historians had attended meetings of the “Mighty Five”, and all talk was of Boris – so Mussorgsky began work on his opera…

Caesar Cui – of all the “Five” the less familiar to us all. He never wrote such monumental opera or symphonic pieces, although he wrote a number of operas. It was quite evident he possessed a more prominent chamber music gift. However, ought we attempt to judge the degree of his genius? All the more so since his friends in the “Mighty Five” greatly prized his talent…

Alongside the “Five” was another, sixth, person – Music critic Vladimir Stasov. A personality of such scope that none of today’s representatives of the profession can ever equal. The original, basic ideas for practically all compositions of members of the “Mighty Five” emanated from him. He put together the material, elaborated the libretto, was always at hand with advice during the actual work. The best, most striking articles about composers of the “Mighty Five” came from under his pen. And the actual name for the association was his idea, after he wrote about his friends – at the time quite unknown to anyone: “this is a small but mighty five!”

Cui, Borodin, Mussorgsky all confirmed this fact. Balakirev would shower them with his endless deluge of global ideas, with titanic insistence pressuring them to study all the music, history and philosophy of the world… And finally, he engaged in composition studies with them. They say he was a super-domineering, overbearing tyrant, who destroyed whole pages of manuscripts, forcing them to rewrite it all over again. Perhaps, one can argue his methods, yet it’s a fact that thanks to Balakirev the world acquired the “Mighty Five”!

Curiously, the pedagogue himself at the time, in the 60-ies of the 19th century, wasn’t yet 30. Actually, he hadn’t really received any specialized education and was a self-taught pianist and composer. However, he was also a musician who, in his own music, had predicted the future not only in the art of the 19th, but also the 20th century. His piano fantasia “Islamei” is the most convincing example. One is caught up in an aura of luxurious, primordial rhythms and melodies of the Caucuses, the piano sounds like some wondrous, mysterious instrument, so unique are the playing methods resorted to by the composer…

Balakirev, a man as quick as mercury, usually took a long time to write his music. At times it took him several years to write one composition. He simply didn’t have the time. He was always involved in other people’s affairs, participating in all the projects of his friends from the “Mighty Five”, setting up a unique Gratuitous music school, conducting concerts of the Russian Music Society where they made use of practically all the music of the world.

Everyone in Russia knew him, yet least of all as a composer! This, incidentally, was one of the reasons for a dreadful depression that whipped him away from the turmoil of his customary activity for almost ten years. He never ever shared his emotional upheavals with anyone. He wrote about this only once, when he narrated to Tchaikovsky the program of the symphony “Manfred” (the idea for the now famous composition by Tchaikovsky belongs to Balakirev!) We read: “Byron’s story-line, besides being profound, is also very contemporary, since this is an illness afflicting all of humanity. Ideals are being shattered, leaving no satisfaction to the soul, nothing but bitterness…”

At the time Balakirev was writing romances, which revealed the true depth of his tragic sufferings…

Balakirev succeeded in floundering his way out of the illness that threatened with dementia. How many people do you think you will find today who gain extra strength through their concern for others. Balakirev buried himself completely in preparing a Complete Volume of compositions by Glinka. Later, with double energy he achieved the opening of the first monument to Chopin in his homeland, Zheliazova Vola. Especially for the solemn ceremony he wrote a symphonic suite on themes by Frederic Chopin who was his idol…

As contemporaries testify, in the latter years of his life Balakirev was greatly altered: he removed himself from the hectic secular life, became profoundly pious and silent. It was as if he was living in his own world, shut away from all other. But he continued writing music, and one of his last works was the 2nd symphony, created in 1908, just two years before his death… Miliy Balakirev is a man we shall always be grateful to for that unique miracle – the “Mighty Five”. A composer, who willingly faded into the shadows, leaving the limelight to the composing Maitres, whom he introduced to the world of music…
 

Art in Russia was always endowed with a special role: if we were to search for parallels, we could probably say that art here was treated much the same way as religion. Art imbued a person with a moral foundation, certain life principles; it instructed, brought one up, cultivated and enlightened. And it isn’t at all accidental that tragedy, popular drama, were for the Russians a certain summit point, an ideal that art ought to strive towards. Authors of compositions of these kind were nothing short of idols, heroes in the popular consciousness. For Russia Mussorgsky is just such a person from the elite caste – one of the chosen few, who came close to approaching the supreme and lofty aim…

“My route lies towards the new shores of as yet limitless art. To seek these shores, tirelessly and without fear, so as to finally stand firmly on the Promised Land – such is the great and lofty task that I strive for.” These are the words of Modest Mussorgsky himself.

There is a certain expression, which we often perceive as an abstract one: ‘achievement of personhood’. But how exactly does a person go on to become a great Master of the Tragic art? This is a question that unwittingly plagues us, mere mortals. All the more so since this question is more often than not left unanswered. In this respect, Modest Mussorgsky is, perhaps, the more mysterious personality.

A svelte handsome youth from a wealthy family of landed gentry, he seemed destined to live a trouble-free life of the rich. And that is how it all started: a happy childhood, studies at a privileged military school. With a fabulous military career in the most prestigious Russian Preobrazhensky Regiment, he found himself singled out by the Emperor himself! Everything was blithe and carefree… The adoration of the ladies, parties and soirees… Our hero was always in the center of attention… “He enjoys, he soaks up life; he toys with music-making and everyone around cries: “Bravo! How charming!” recalled Alexander Borodin, referring to the young Mussorgsky.

However, all this was suddenly left and forsaken… Mussorgsky retires from the army, his family strips him of his inheritance, but the decision was irrevocable: he would dedicate the rest of his life entirely to music. This was more than a heroic feat: Mussorgsky at the time was a composer taking his very first tentative steps, with a very vague notion of what the future held for him…

But then, very soon he consciously determines this ‘future’ for himself. “Life, wherever it might be, truth, no matter how bitter, a blunt and sincere manner in communicating with people – this is what I want and where I fear to take a false step…”

“I am a person of tragic ‘ferment’ – the composer once said of himself. He said this when only stepping onto the new road – a thorny path in art. This at a time when he didn’t yet know what difficulty his forthcoming opera masterpieces would encounter in making their way onto the stage… When he had no knowledge of what dreadful solitude, a mind-numbing realization of complete unwantedness, and alcohol-doused poverty awaited him in his last days – how he would die in agony alone in hospital, and the Ilya Repin would paint one of the most terrifying portraits in Russian art – the dying Mussorgsky.

“I am a person of tragic ‘ferment’… Was he aware of some presentiment regarding his destiny, or was he referring to the essential character of his art?.. Mussorgsky wrote: “I have taken upon myself the cross… I am going against everybody – towards an art that loves man, that thrives on his woes, joys and griefs…”

However, Mussorgsky was not only the great tragic, who presumed to venture into the realm of global problems of the universe – life and death, the responsibility of a great personality in the face of the history of his people, conscience and infamy… He was a composer, who succeeded in narrating in his music the most striking, momentous, pivotal events in Russian history, which radically altered the course of life in Russia – he was also a Master of exquisite piano miniature… Just recall pieces from his cycle “Pictures at an Exhibition”… Or he could plunge into the unassuming world of fairy-tale, like in his symphonic fantasia “Night on Bald Mountain”… Or he could churn out, like a majority of Russian composers, unambitious salon music:

He could display cutting wit and sparkling humor – as he did in his effortless and light opera “The Marriage”. He wrote luxuriant, flavorsome, almost impressionist-exquisite music – as was the case with his opera “Sorochinsk fair”. (However, regarding the impressionism the word ‘almost’ is redundant – Debussy, for example, considered Mussorgsky his principal mentor and teacher!)

Mussorgsky’s musical language is extremely realistic and razor-sharp. He was the first in history author of the musical pamphlet. A virtuoso super-grotesque – is found in his vocal miniatures (take, for example, his song “Flea” to lyrics by Beranger: “All those, who start to bite, we aim to throttle”.)

And yet again, Mussorgsky is at once a remarkable gentleness, endearment, and warmth, all coming straight from the heart. As the composer himself used to say, he learned how to feel from listening to folk music. “Once I used to be a cosmopolite, however, the original, essentially Russian is permeating my very soul, and is claiming me entirely…”
 

But happen it did, “Boris Godunov”, the popular drama by Modest Mussorgsky, a composition in force of tragedy and philosophical impact in its estimate of Russian history having no analogues in world culture!

The decision to write “Boris” was a deed in itself: the tragedy by the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, on which the opera by Mussorgsky is based, had fallen from grace at the time, and the Czar’s censors had banned its production. The staging of Pushkin’s tragedy only came about after the opera had come into being! The unrelenting position of the authorities isn’t hard to explain: both Pushkin and Mussorgsky were infringing on the untouchable: their main character was the killer-Czar!

The reign of Czar Boris was one of the most complicated and difficult to comprehend periods in Russia’s history. A period when the first Russian royal dynasty had been interrupted, and there was a power chasm. A bloody battle unfolded for the Russian throne… It was a time of ceaseless popular revolts, wars, pretenders to the throne, who were prepared to go to any lengths to seize power. One such character emerges in “Boris Godunov” – Grishka Otrepiyev, a runaway monk. He proclaims himself to be Prince Dmitry, who miraculously escaped death – the same Prince Dmitry who as legend has it, was murdered by Boris Godunov. There were three such pretenders in Russia at the time, besides two False Borises, who materialized on the historic arena after the death of Boris Godunov (incidentally, there exist surmises that the latter’s death was also violent). A terrible time of distemper, bloodshed, betrayal, depicted most powerfully and with remarkable conviction by Mussorgsky in his music!

A composer who becomes a serious historian and philosopher – such is the role that Mussorgsky adopts in his opera “Boris Godunov”. To this day nobody can say if Czar Boris was, indeed, a murderer. But such is popular legend. Without a doubt, in reality Boris Godunov was one of those who moulded his time, making it bloody and tragic for all of Russia. Mussorgsky, just like Pushkin before him, becomes a judge, relentlessly championing the great ethical laws that ought to rule the world and be equally applicable to all people on earth. In his opera, Czar Boris is censured by the God’s Fool - an impoverished roaming Wiseman: “One cannot pray for a Czar-murder, a Czar-Herod!”

Could “Boris Godunov” be similar to any other opera that came before it? Already at the outset Mussorgsky realized it could not. “I am crushing all opera traditions, which have existed before now!” In his “Boris” everything is new: the extreme realism of every intonation, recreating the details of human speech, a transcendent expressivity of means, capturing a state previously unfathomable to musical art: when the consciousness is on the brink, when following on the heels of terrible visions and hallucinations comes death…

For the first time witness an opera where the choir is no longer a certain uniform mass, but rather a gallery of human characters. Here is just one example:

The Prologue. A crowd which is deliberately driven out to plead with the future Czar Boris to accept supreme authority in the land.

So much for that coronation… which afterwards proceeds in line with tradition and centuries-old canon: with bell chimes, a crowd, unanimously hailing the wise ruler – and our perception of the truth of what is taking place alters…

“Boris Godunov” had a hard time reaching the stage – in 1874, after numerous alterations, it finally premiered… Nobody appreciated the true force of Mussorgsky’s work – not even his friends from the “Mighty Five”! Perhaps, it could not have been otherwise – after all, Mussorgsky was soaring above time. While quite obviously Mussorgsky understood all this: “If my attempts to recreate a live person in live music will be comprehended by living people of today, they shall sling mud at us. But our business shall only gather strength! They will tell us: “You have violated God’s and human laws!” We shall answer: “Yes!” And will reflect that there will be so much more to come! There’ll be enough impudence to serve out to all those holding judgment!”

Mussorgsky wrote thus in the early 70-ies, when he was struggling to get “Boris Godunov” staged, and was already conceiving his coming opera masterpiece – “Khovanshina”…
 

The opera tells us about one of the most tragic periods in Russian history. A time even today no one dares evaluate offhandedly.

This was the epoch of reforms launched by Peter the Great – those that altered the entire course of Russian history. Pre-Peter Russ and the empire ruled by Peter – these are as if two different civilizations. A state of a new, European type: with principally new economic, political, religious, cultural value systems. A new state that championed its right to exist stopping at nothing. And the Russia of old: that reared up in protest, erupting in riots, revolts, religious conflicts, and terrifying human losses sacrificed to the cause.

         Was this really called for, this abrupt uprooting of the old system? Were such drastic alterations, rejected outright by a greater part of the country, warranted? We are still unable to offer the answers to these questions. They had no answers in Mussorgsky’s time, either. Only the very brave, chiefly historians, were ready to defiantly tackle the issue in their art. As for taking it up and attempting to dwell and evaluate this complicated epoch in Russian history through means of music – this seemed quite unthinkable! Nonetheless, Mussorgsky ventured to broach this subject. However, in all truth, the last thing his opera resembles is an analytical historical study. Rather, his music compresses in sound the essence of that vast historical epoch. With the revolts of the Streltsi Guards, led by Prince Khovanski, whose surname gave the opera its title. The relentlessly powerful new force – as demonstrated by Czar Peter and his followers, victims, that fell in the implacable political struggle – such as Prince Khovanski, who presumed to resist Peter the Great…

This was also the time of the incredibly tragic developments in the religious life of Russia: the split within the church. And a vehement protest of the advocates of old forms of Orthodoxy, the Raskolniki - forced to become outcasts in society, persecuted, hounded, voluntarily took their own lives driven by total despair. The bonfires of the Raskolniki hermitages, where thousands of innocent people perished – this is also a dreadful reality of early 18th century Russia – a reality that is depicted in the most tragic scenes of the opera by Mussorgsky.

“Khovanshina” is a multi-faceted image of a whole epoch – and at the same time the opera offers remarkably realistic and full-bodied portraits of real-life people, who lived at the time. Take Prince Khovanski - a man of iron will, political backbone and possessing the riveting talent of a charismatic leader.

Dosifei (not a real historical character, but rather a collective personality) – one of those who led the Raskolniki movement. A Thinker, severe ascetic, taking nourishment for his convictions in the powerful roots on ancient Orthodoxy…

Shaklovity, heading the ‘special services’ of the time, the man who informed on the Streltsi, revealing their conspiracy. This was an episode from real history that ended in execution of thousands of people. However, it is this ‘negative’ character that Mussorgsky chooses to voice his own cherished thoughts and reflections regarding Russia’s tragic fate. Why? This is one of the mysteries of the opera “Khovanshina”, which intrigues listeners to this day…

Raskolnista Marfa… As her comrades in Faith, a most strong-willed and wholesome character. And in Mussorgsky’s case – a woman, capable of loving wholeheartedly, without holding anything back. She reaches her decision to perish in the fire of the Raskolniki hermitage led by her desire to be with her beloved…
“To see the present in the past” - this is what Mussorgsky wanted when creating his opera “Khovanshina”. So, what did he discern? He once wrote about this: “Black earth becomes discernible only when you dig deep… You can do so only with an implement that is of alien matter… And so they did in the end of the 17th century – with an implement that they didn’t even recognize initially. So, in a show of strength they executed the non-believers and rioters at the time… But what next? Did they move forward? Alas, no! Motley benefactors are game to seize at fortune and fame, yet the people moan and shudder in agony. We are still there!”  wrote Mussorgsky in the 1870’s. He sought to see the present in the past. But, evidently, he was just as clearly seeing into the future! 
 

Curiously, this cycle, one of the most monumental ones in the history of the Russian piano school, was written by Mussorgsky as a ‘break’, a ‘respite’. The year 1874… Mussorgsky had completed work on “Boris Godunov”, and was embarking on another grand-scale effort – “Khovanshina”. 

“Two such colossal works can crush one,” wrote the composer at the time. So, leaving aside opera affairs, he turned his attention with great pleasure and a particular ease, as he said, to creating his “Pictures” – one after another in succession.”

“Pictures at an Exhibition” were written by Mussorgsky under impressions of an exhibition of works by his friend – architect and artist Victor Hartman (who died young and his exhibition was posthumous). The exhibition brought together works that became a total revelation even for those closely acquainted with his art. Hartman was believed to be unrivalled in his stylizations of antiquity, an artist of fairy-tale genre. As it transpired, he was just as good a realist, of Rembrandt scale. Mussorgsky was struck by the portraits painted by Hartman. Thus, there emerged the composition of tremendous tragic impact “Two Jews, One Rich, One Poor”.

The artist’s tragic works were what struck a responsive chord with Mussorgsky, who was first and foremost a master of tragedy. However, as we all know, there is a great deal of all sorts of things in every person. Light and airy tableaux, sparkling with humor, are yet another facet of Mussorgsky the composer. It’s enough to cast a cursory glance at his own introduction to the play “Limoges Market”: “Breaking news! Messr. Piusengiu has just found his cow, “Runaway”. Yet, the Matrons of Limoges are not quite in accord on the issue. Because Madame Rambusage has acquired a perfect set of porcelain teeth! While Messeur Panta-Panteleone’s nose, which is always getting in his way, remains as red as a peony.”

Mussorgsky as if ‘comes up for air’ before presenting to the world his tragic giant – the opera “Khovanshina”.

It’s customary to perceive Mussorgsky first and foremost as an opera, a vocal composer. This is perfectly just. It was in the sphere of vocal music that he realized his principal ideas of “truth of musical speech”, as he put it.

But he started out as a composer with instrumental music. (Mussorgsky played the piano wonderfully – and, at a time when he never dared dream of one day becoming a professional composer, he wrote prolifically for the piano.) Later – to the end of his days – he regularly addressed the instrumental genres. When together with his friends in the famous union “Mighty Five” he began work on the joint opera-ballet “Mlada” – he evinced a desire to tackle the instrumental episodes.

Possibly, in his instrumental works, Mussorgsky aimed to express something that had eluded him, which he couldn’t fully reflect in his operas. He sought to reappraise his ties with classical art – and would commence writing traditional Sonatas and Symphonies. In the last years of his life he set off on a lengthy concert trip to the Crimea – and responded to it in a burst of piano compositions, moreover – a whole series of pieces! There was one instrumental composition he continuously returned to throughout his life. This was his symphonic Fantasia “Night on Bald Mountain”. A kind of fairy-tale Fantasia harking to heathen times (It looks like this musical philosopher must have had a need for this theme!!!)

The last orchestra variant of Mussorgsky’s Fantasia was created in just twelve days. The composer recalled: “I finished work right on the eve of Ivan Kupala. Something was stirring within me…I simply couldn’t fathom what was happening to me. I seem to be chattering too effusively about my “Night on Bald Mountain” – it must be because I see in my sinful prank an original composition, born on the Native lands and nourished by Russian bread.”

Have you ever discerned in Mussorgsky’s instrumental music anything new that perhaps, doesn’t quite tie in with your customary impressions of the composer? If so, we are only too glad!

Mussorgsky’s musical language is extremely realistic and razor-sharp. He was the first in history author of the musical pamphlet. A virtuoso super-grotesque – is found in his vocal miniatures.

And yet again, Mussorgsky is at once a remarkable gentleness, endearment, and warmth, all coming straight from the heart. As the composer himself used to say, he learned how to feel from listening to folk music. “Once I used to be a cosmopolite, however, the original, essentially Russian is permeating my very soul, and is claiming me entirely…”
 

So, what would the young officer’s final choice be? Would he opt for the Naval service or music? You already know the answer to that: music that filled his entire being. His impressions from the circumnavigation journey were to last forever: he retained the wonder he experienced when beholding the breathtaking sight of the tropical skies and a natural reverence for the majestic power of the sea.

Let us take a look at the most well-known portrait of the composer – at the desk. A gaunt man, with a serious, even severe expression on his face, with every hair in place, a perfectly-groomed suit – all buttoned down and not a crease in sight. In his hands – a perfectly sharpened pencil – a man of sense and rationalism. 

Indeed, he knew how to check and regulate his every step. If he undertook something – he carried it through ideally. When leading the Court Singing Chapel – it meant heading a well-oiled teaching process; as a Professor at St.Petersburg Conservatory – making sure his students were perfectly-versed in their subject. (Incidentally, he became a Professor at 26!) When working on music scores of his deceased friends and colleagues – finishing “Boris Godunov”, “Khovanshina”, “Prince Igor” – it signified a honing of every minute detail…

However, this pedantically well-organized man immediately ‘caught fire’ the moment he came into contact with the remarkable and beautiful. He could exclaim: “When I discovered what opera was, a flame ignited within me, and I could no longer live without music!”

Music by Rimsky-Korsakov is a certain unreal world of inexhaustible imagination. How could an earthly individual conjure up these wondrous creatures: the fragile Snowmaiden, child of Frost and Spring; the enchanting Scheherazade; the mysteriously gorgeous and seductive Shemakhan Princess or the starry Swan-Queen… 

All of his life the composer sought to unravel this himself. At the time when he decided to become a part of it, everything in Russian art was concentrated ‘round the general idea – realism. While this composer was prepared to mold a world all his own. “I am true to myself. As I see it, Truth isn’t enough for art. Truth is always so judicious. The essence of art is the world portrayed, not the creator in it. A world that reveals its own spiritual nature.” “At the moment when music comes to me, I experience a feeling of universal scope… I listen to the voices of nature and folk art, and become their continuation…”

After Tchaikovsky’s death, Rimsky-Korsakov became the acknowledged leader of the Russian composing school. Premieres of all his works were a resounding success, every Russian composer dreamt of becoming his pupil. Such luminaries as Stravinsky, Rakhmaninoff, Scriabin sought his counsel…

People revered and respected him. He was referred to as “the Master, the great musical philosopher”… While the composer himself detested these superlative epithets. A philosopher? “Music has no need for such intellectual riddles… If my audience wants to, they can always sense what I am all about!”

Rimsky-Korsakov once formulated this ‘essence’ with great clarity: “Art is the life of the human spirit and nature, expressed in their relationship”.
 

You will be surprised to learn that this seemingly unconditional opera composer was, for a quite long time not considered one at all! Moreover, not only by his adversaries, but even his close friends from the “Mighty Five”. “Our ‘Korsinjka’, as they dubbed him, is a born instrumentalist!” said Mussorgsky, Borodin and Balakirev. 

Well, it’s true that he was an instrumentalist. However, in all truth he simply didn’t see his future in music without opera. “It is opera that has made me love music so much, that it is simply not possible to love it more!” – the usually reserved in displaying his feelings composer admitted at the outset of his road in music… 

Valuing order in all things, Rimsky-Korsakov once meticulously systematized all his operas. Early in the 20th century he wrote an article which was entitled “Thoughts about my own operas”. He separated his first opera – “Pskovityanka” - from all the others. It is, indeed, his only historical drama. “Written under Mussorgsky’s influence”, commented the composer. However, this is a very big question, since: “Boris Godunov” and “Pskovityanka” were written simultaneously, and both composers regularly consulted each other. 

Next the composer brings together a quartet of celebrities that was born under the sign of the composer’s interest in the Sun cult: “In “Snowmaiden” I sang praise to Shrovetide and Yarillo-Sun”, in “Mlada” – the mystery of Ivan-Kupala night during the summer solstice, in “May Night” - I glorified the summer Trinity week… 

“For a long time I felt I was in debt to Ovsenj and Kolyada. Thus, my opera “Night before Christmas” emerged, and so – I worked my way across the full circle of the Sun – just like our ancient ancestors…” 

“Sadko” is an opera which is set aside a separate place in the world of Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera fantasies. And in world music there isn’t another like it: an epic-opera, a continuation of ancient traditions of Russian epic tales… 

And several more of the composer’s admissions. He wrote one of his most beautiful operas – the “Czar’s Bride” – out of protest! “Russia has lost its mind over Wagner! Music and abstract philosophy are incompatible!” 

“I believe that music is by nature a lyrical art. And if they refer to me as a Lyricist, it will make me proud!” 

As Rimsky-Korsakov wrote, all his life was an ‘opera counterpoint’ – one composition was being prepared for staging, another was under instrumentation, the next was just taking shape in tentative sketches… 

Here before you is a brilliant triad – “Tale of King Sultan”, “Kashchei the Immortal”, “Golden Cockerel”. Fairy tales again… Where did this unquenchable thirst for unreal and magical come from? Let’s quote the composer himself: “At the center of everything in art should be the world portrayed. It reveals its own spiritual nature.” And the spiritual nature of a fairy tale, legend, myth – is the most perfect thing there is on earth, thought Rimsky-Korsakov. A world in harmony, in order, in unbreakable bonds of man and nature – this is what the composer sought in art and found through creating a succession of musical wonders… 

And then there were “Mozart and Salieri” – music that to this day fires the imagination with its mystery of Mozart’s death; “Vera Sheloga” – a lyrical sketch on themes from Russian history; “Serviliya” (to the composer’s joy, a finally  materialized in music love for antique history). And “Pan Voyevode” – an opera based on a plot from Polish history, born, as the author admitted …out of love for Chopin! 

Rimsky-Korsakov called the last two operas an ‘intermezzo’ before the creation of his grand-scale, lofty monument, as he referred to it: ‘my Ninth Symphony’ – the “Tale of the Invisible Town of Kitezh.” 

Music born of the ancient legends – perhaps the most lofty and profound, the essential message of which is: a spiritual vanquishing of evil and achieving enlightenment of the human spirit. 

Do you feel a certain ‘mystical-religious’ coloring in this? Well, Rimsky-Korsakov believed that ‘all music is by nature religious, for its purpose is – idolatry, worship…” 
 

Nobody knows just how music is born. But it is my conviction that this carefree, enchanting, radiant with tenderness and sunlight fairy tale could never have sprouted from the pen of not only an unhappy, but even slightly anxiety-riddled person…

And Rimsky-Korsakov was, indeed, very happy! Yes, that also happens… Things were going well, he was basking in family happiness – with his adored wife and three youngsters. They would all go off to their country place… This is what Rimsky-Korsakov himself said: “Our Nurse Avdotya Larionovna has drawn our attention to the Steliovo estate to the north from St.Petersburg. For the first time I had the opportunity to spend the entire summer in a real Russian village. A primordial forest Volchinets, vast fields of rye, flax, buckwheat… untrodden paths… It all fascinated me…

The house, although old, was comfortable. It opened onto a wonderful spacious garden, with berry bushes and blossoming lilac. The riot of meadow flowers and rapturous birdsong – all this amazed and pleased me, perfectly harmonizing with my pantheistic mood.

I spent whole days writing “The Snowmaiden”, but also found time to help my wife make jam, take walks in the woods. I felt I could actually see my music in the flesh: a mossy tree stump struck me as resembling the dwelling of the Leshy – the wood spirit; the triple echo of those parts seemed to resonate with the voices of creatures from the fairytale forest. Even the cry of the local cockerel found its way into my music, recorded by my wife and brought to me one morning. And our bullfinch, trilling full blast in F-sharp major – also became a character of my tale. I heard the voices of nature and they all found their musical illustrations…”

So in this manner: from love, joy, enjoyment of nature, daily thunderstorms and summer lightning, in which the Rimsky-Korsakov family saw something mystical; the intoxicating aroma of wild strawberry and other woodland softfruit, of which there was a generous bounty that summer – the “Snowmaiden” was born. A tale about an enchanting girl, the mysterious daughter of Spring and Frost, who turned into a cloud after the scorching sun rays and the fire of true love melted her…

“The Snowmaiden”... A fairy-tale opera, or rather, a tale-myth. “I was intrigued by the Sun cult at the time,” admitted Rimsky-Korsakov. The ancient mythology, ideas of harmony of Man and Nature were commonly the object of admiration and heightened interest at the time. Only some wrote scientific studies on the subject, while he created a dazzlingly wonderful world, unlike anything else in the world of art of the time. A world full of voices from a daily lifestyle hailing all the way from the mists of the past... With the poetic charm of girls’ round dances in springtime… The brash, loud and captivating pulsating rhythm of Shrovetide… The magic of ancient hymns and chants honoring the Sun God – Yarilo.

However, the opera by Rimsky-Korsakov is at once his own, new myth, the characters of which are not only fantasy creatures, but real-life people, too…

And the Snowmaiden herself, an almost ethereal creature not of this world, who enjoys a remarkable transformation. After experiencing the joy and grief of human love, she acquires human traits. And another transformation: this lovely and by now almost real-life girl suddenly melts, evaporates into the crystal-pure air…

Life follows its regular course, with the changing of the seasons, and people singing praise to the Sun. The eternal circle of life… But is Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Snowmaiden” about this? We invariably feel a sorrow when parting with it. This myth that reaches out to us from the depths of the centuries touches profound hidden corners of the heart. Was there ever anything of the kind in all the history of world culture?
 

Bylina, or Russian epic tale. A very ancient and highly revered genre by Russians. Even in Rimsky-Korsakov’s time, psaltery-players with their remarkable singing narratives charmed our compatriots. These unhurried, sing-song tales, where Time seemed to stand still, told of the history of our Motherland, its brave heroes, love, hatred, good and evil. In a word – everything that rules this world of ours…

Quotations from the epic tales, an imitation of them, had become a tradition already before Rimsky-Korsakov. However, there had never before been an opera completely in epic tale manner, with its lofty, unhurried and solemn narration telling of history long past. What’s more, this was never repeated in opera art. Incidentally, the composer was exceedingly proud of this: “My epic bylina-tale is what separates “Sadko” from all other operas – and not only mine!”

When we say that “Sadko” tells the tale of history long past, we mean that there indeed was such a man as Sadko – in the old Russian town of Novgorod. He was a successful merchant, who as folk legend has it, was also an amazingly talented psaltery player and tale narrator. The ‘golden psaltery’ to the sound of which he used to recite his epic tales and with which he worked wonders – indeed, gleamed like gold, for the strings were made of copper. To this day archeologists find psalteries contemporaries of the one Sadko played at digs in Novgorod. The 14th century!

At the time a famous trade route ‘from the Varangians to the Greeks’ lay right through Novgorod. The city was incredibly rich, ambitious and independent. A town-republic, where the merchant guild ruled the day. Everything was decided by a majority vote. Those who disagreed were shunned. This happened to Sadko – he chose to seek fame and fortune alone, traveling abroad, discovering new trade routes. Well, he was branded proud and vain – and this went down in the town chronicles. 

However, in the old bylina tale and in Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera there’s more involved: a golden fish, that helps Sadko, and the Underwater Kingdom, with its deep sea wonders. Swans turn into girls, Sadko falls in love with a Sea Princess Volkhova… But then – this is a folk look at the surrounding world, so beautifully and gracefully elevating extraordinary people from the mundane world. In a word – it’s what bylina epic is all about.

A majority of operas by Rimsky-Korsakov are written ‘in one breath’, in a very brief span of time. The composer took a long time approaching his conceived “Sadko”. Back in his youth he wrote a symphonic tableau under the same title, in the 1870’s prepared a libretto, and eventually realized his idea only in the 1880’s. He was passionate when it came to defending his brainchild: his friends insisted that he incorporate historical scenes, a love plot with true-to-life characters, rather than make-believe ones. “That is not for me!” insisted the composer. “The world through the prism of imagination and make-believe – this is my destiny!”

Well, we can only be thankful for his persistence in bringing us the enchanting, fairy-tale scenes from “Sadko”; only his imagination could conceive portraits of people from all over the world. Any fan of Russian classical music is familiar with the foreign guests at the Veliky Novgorod Fair - the Varangian guest, the Indian Guest…

As for folk scenes, the opera has the scene of the noisy Novgorod fair, with its fabulous folk choruses – just what the composer’s friends were begging for!

Let us again recall the words of Rimsky-Korsakov that he himself so loved to repeat: “I listen closely to sounds of Nature and folk art and use what they have sung for ages as the groundwork for my art.”

On the outskirts of Novgorod there is a lake that even sober-minded and realistic people tend to regard as mystical: the morning mists there are so thick, one invariably sees mirages which more often take on the shapes of swans of girls. And next to the town itself – the staid and placid river Volkhov – could it not be the one that the Princess Volkhova turned into, upon bidding Sadko farewell?..
 

In a thrice-nine realm that lay
O’er the seas and far away
Lived and reigned the great Dadon
In his youth he had been known
For his ruthless ways and fierce,
But in later, riper years,
Wearying of war and strife,
Showed a fondness for a life
Of repose and calm… Alas!
By his neighbors now he was
Teased and harassed: oft did they 
Overrun his lands, at bay
For to hold them old Dadon
Had to keep large armies on…

Tsar Dadon could ill endure
Such reverse. He wept in rage,
Lost his sleep, and for a sage,
An astrologer and seer,
Sent at last in hope and fear.

With a bow the mage is shown
In the presence of Dadon,
And from out his sack – behold! 
Bring he forth a Cock of gold,
Saying, “Heed my counsel, sire,
Place the cock atop a spire,
And on guard he’ll faithful stand
Of your great and mighty land.
While there’s peace, o Tsar, he will
On his perch keep very still.
But if there be threat of war,
Or a hint of evil, or
Should on you a sudden raid
By the enemy be made,
Then the Cock his wings will spread,
Lift his golden, crested head
And with loud and piercing crow
Give you warning where the foe
Thinks to strike…

The “Golden Cockerel” was written in 1907… Those were troubled times for Russia – wars, revolts, the first Russian revolution… Hardly surprising that many contemporaries perceived the opera by Rimsky-Korsakov written to Alexander Pushkin’s tale as a caustic political satire. It’s also hardly surprising that no theatre would agree to stage the opera about Tsar Dadon’s Kingdom – the censors simply banned it…

And what of the composer himself? (after all, he always liked to provide his compositions with his own comment?..) Well, on this occasion, he didn’t say anything at all! There is but one comment in his notes – referring to the genre of the opera. He called it most aptly “an acted-out fable or ‘spinner’. There is a genre in Russian folklore – tall tales in verses or song form, where everything is turned upside down: people bark like dogs, pigs fly, bears crow, etc.

Thus a year or two went by
Till a sudden hue and cry
In the early hours of dawn
Roused the sleeping Tsar Dadon,
“Wake, o Tsar our Father, pray!”
Called his voyevoda “Eh?”
Yawned Dadon and opened eye…

“What’s this awful clamour?” “Why,
Tis the Cock. He’s crowing, sire,
Loud as loud atop the spire,
All are up and in a fright”…

Cried Dadon, for this did bode
Nothing good: “Ho, men, to horse!”
And he sent a mighty force,
With his firstborn at its head,
War to wage…

Of a sudden out of tent,
To Dadon’s great wonderment,
Stepped a maid Tsarina of
Shemakhan, the skies above
With her dazzling beauty shaming,
Like a night-bird by the flaming
Orb of day, so was he dazed
And, enthralled, upon her gazed,
Sons and host forgot…

The one-of-a-kind fable “Golden Cockerel”: it has neither good nor bad characters! The idiotic world of Dadon’s kingdom needs no appraisal! And who are the Stargazers, or the Shemakhan Tsarina? Neither the opera not the tale by Pushkin give any assessments or tags… Everyone either perishes or disappears into oblivion…

So how are we to understand all this? Rimsky-Korsakov didn’t give us any reply. We can only make surmises, as we read his letters: “I am experiencing a certain distemper of the spirit. Something is happening to the world around me; something very vital, pivotal, is disappearing from the spiritual life of man… I cannot discern where Mankind is heading…” This was written by Rimsky-Korsakov in the last years of his life… The 20th century was coming into its own…
 

What is invention here and what is real historic fact? There exist numerous legends dating to the times of the incursion of the Tatar-Mongol hordes into Russian lands, where a description is given of a wondrous happening: the town of Kitezh which obdurately refused to meekly submit to the conquerors willingly sank to the bottom of the lake…

There was also a legend about the maid Fevronia (in the opera she is the principal character) – an amazing girl, who knew how to heal incurably ill folk with the help of various herbs. She was also skilled at healing sick souls with her gift of forgiveness…

Such are the legends… They existed in Rimsky-Korsakov’s time and continue their tenacious hold on national consciousness in our day, too. Until now crowds of pilgrims set off for the town of Ryazan to pay homage to the sacred relics of Fevronia, and many-thousands flock to drink the water from Lake Svetloyar – the same lake whence the town of Kitezh submerged…

It so happens that for 100 years now (the opera was written in 1904) there is no end to debates around Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera.

Some believe it to be a certain patriotic composition about events from national history, others solemnly declare it to be a religious mystery. Let us recall that the composer himself abhorred any manner of wild guesses and speculations. He usually dotted all the I-s in his comments. We thus read: “the story-line of my opera has a spiritual aspect. Its essence is aptly expressed by the German phrase “Weltverklarte Stadt” – not ‘invisible’ town, in the sense that it is impossible to see it, but a ‘town transformed’, in the sense that its people have achieved a higher level of spirituality. Is my music religious? I would generally say that all music is religious, spiritual in content. For its purpose is – worship.”

The folk epic tale about the wondrous town of Kitezh has many versions. In some of these the town disappears forever, in others – its contours can be seen through the rippling waters of the lake. In still others this is a town of the righteous, a town that remains invisible to the sinners. Only those who have managed to conquer evil: the evil surrounding us in life, and the evil that can take root in people’s hearts and souls – only these people are accorded the great grace of seeing this town… The composer chose this latter version as the baseline for his opera…

Sin and its redemption, self-sacrifice and betrayal – in all other creations  Rimsky-Korsakov preferred not to touch upon these topics. While in “Tale of the Invisible Town of Kitezh” we see that a whole batch of complex moral problems becomes twisted into an almost expressionist-like knot. Betrayal of one’s Motherland is one of the moral summit points of the opera. A man by the name of Grishka Kuterjma, who consents to show the enemies the road leading to Kitezh. The sin that tears him apart, drives him mad – is a scene totally uncharacteristic for Rimsky-Korsakov, worthy of the best tragic canvasses in world art…

In one of his letters the composer once hit upon a very precise definition of the genre of his opera. He said it was similar to a ‘church verse’. There exists such a special genre in Russian folk art. It is a reflection on spiritual problems, the essence of life. The themes taken up are pivotal ones for man. While they are all narrated in incredibly simple manner. And another must – there is always a very clear and radiant message from the outset, in other words – its all done with true, genuine  Faith…

So the entire opera by Rimsky-Korsakov is like one gigantic church verse. A cosmic scale poem of good and evil…

The opera by Rimsky-Korsakov is almost without folklore quotations, but it is written as if ‘from inside’ the popular national consciousness. Take the scene “Battle at Kerzhenetz” – events of the bloody battle between the attacking Tatars and the Russians, defending their land. We do not see evidence of any ‘battle’ tonality, the event is portrayed just as in folk songs or folk verses of that tragic for Russia time…

“Dust rises in pillars
That shroud the sky,
The horses gallop, the terrible enemy hordes
Come hurtling…
Woe to our Native land!..

However, there is yet another large precious diadem of masterpieces in the artistic legacy of this wonderful Russian composer: his instrumental pieces, which we would like to talk about.

Which instrumental work by Rimsky-Korsakov do all lovers of Russia music recall first and foremost? I can say with a degree of confidence that it’s the symphonic suite “Scheherazade”. 

Of course, “Scheherazade” swiftly ensnares even the most sophisticated music lovers with the luxurious sound of the orchestra, and both musicians and amateurs marvel and revel in the wondrous skill of the composer who does something quite unbelievable with the symphonic orchestra.

However, without a doubt there is something else, too, that impacts our senses… The composer himself once explained it all, when dwelling on why he named his suite thus, never really intending to narrate the specific tales recounted by Scheherazade.

He wrote: “It’s because for every one of us, the name Scheherazade, just as “A Thousand and One Nights”, spark associations with the lush and mystical beauty of the Orient and the magic always present in fairy tales. One’s imagination immediately goes into overdrive. Once our flight of fantasy begins, we feel as if we have been catapulted back into our childhood, and this carries with it a delightful sense of pure joy!”

Curiously, Rimsky-Korsakov, a composer whose name we immediately link with the opera genre, was in actual fact regarded initially as a highly promising symphonist! Moreover, his very first opera efforts were discarded as worthless! Well, time was quick to set things right. However, it is a historical fact that Rimsky-Korsakov became famous thanks to his symphonic music. It all began with “Sadko” – not the opera, but a symphonic tableau. As we know today, one that was a forerunner of his great opera creation, which was to come into being 20 years later…

Incidentally, many symphonic compositions, works of genius in their own right, were but a prelude to his following opera masterpieces. The symphonic poem “Antar” threw the spotlight on his remarkable talent for doing justice to the mysterious and intriguing culture of the Orient; the brief symphonic piece “Tale” became a symbol of his steadfast interest in the world of folk fantasy, which would be pervasive all his life… “The Spanish Capriccio” loftily announced his desire to communicate with all cultures of the world…

Which of us can solve the mystery of how a work of art is born? We are prone to look for special philosophy, gigantic monumental concepts… However, at times this isn’t at all the case. For example, Rimsky-Korsakov wrote numerous compositions for various solo instruments. They were all written simply… out of curiosity! Out of the desire of the ‘eternal student, as he referred to himself, to find out more about the peculiarities of each instrument. Rimsky-Korsakov wrote for violin and cello, oboe and clarinet… He even has a concerto for trombone! He wanted to shed light on ever new opportunities offered by the piano, and so his Piano Concerto was born.

The symphony orchestra in opera works by Rimsky-Korsakov is actually an independent ‘character’, while symphonic episodes in each of his operas – are separate compositions. On the heels of every one of his operas, there came orchestra suites on themes from them. Was this a need to sum up all that had been said by means of a symphonic orchestra? This is up to us to decide, since the composer who normally gave detailed accounts and running commentaries of all his actions, in this case said nothing.

One of the last powerful impressions he experienced in his life, likewise, found reflection in a symphonic composition.

In 1905 Russia was shaken by revolutionary events. The composer was in Moscow during the high point of these happenings. He lived on Tverskaya street, and once, as he later recalled, he woke up from a powerful swelling sound. It was a huge throng of people singing… Indeed, a crowd of rebels were marching along the street. Dozens of thousands of people were singing the Russian song “Dubinushka”. 

“I was astounded by the impact of this swelling force,” Rimsky-Korsakov wrote. “I immediately sensed that Russia, and the world at large, was on the threshold of cataclysmic events...”

The composer, who predicted so much in the music of the 20th century, prophesied the destinies of the world as well…
 

Whatever he took up he did with tremendous talent, beauty and scope. His essence and his outward appearance coincided with striking harmony: a remarkably gifted man, Borodin was also breathtakingly handsome, his Russian bloodline and that of the Caucuses came together to produce a typical Russian epic hero, with a chiseled face.

All who surrounded him displayed a very special attitude towards him. Chemists lifted their voices as one insisting that Borodin was simply impossibly talented! They bombarded him with letters, demanding that he give up all other occupations and devote his time and efforts to his true métier in life – chemistry!

However, this is where the musicians stepped in: “Russian music will die without you! Why do you waste yourself on other matters?!”

Borodin would jokingly shrug off all this, saying: “my surrounding are as if divided into two camps of ‘chemistry fanatics’ and ‘music fanatics’, and that ‘I have stretched 24 hours into 25’; ‘when I am healthy, I devote my time to chemistry, and when ill – I write music’. This last, incidentally, was the absolute truth!

Since he had the excellent health of a Russian epic warrior, (at least, so he said, and so everyone believed, until it later transpired he had an in-born cardiac disease) he didn’t write music often. The composition of his opera of genius “Prince Igor” lasted 20 years. In fact, the opera was never finished by its author, so that it was his friends – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Glazunov - who had to complete it. Among the musicians there still exists the opinion that chemistry had constantly drawn Borodin’s attention away from music, as had all his other numerous occupations and public affairs. Still, amazingly, the pulsating rhythm of his work – erratic, from time to time – coincides in chemistry and in music. Moreover, all the most noteworthy discoveries in chemistry were done at the same time as when veritable pages of genius were written in his music compositions. Chemist and composer, Borodin wielded their talent simultaneously!

What exactly in art is the fruit of a stroke of genius enlightenment, and what is born of serious, deliberate calculation? People have been pondering the question since time immemorial. In point of fact, Borodin-the chemist and Borodin-the composer gave an answer to this question. He pored forth music in randomly-generous portions, having preceded this by painstaking studies of a scientist. The creation of his “Bogatyr Symphony” was preceded by a study of all newest theories of epic art. Years of work on “Prince Igor” involved an analysis of all existing at the time materials on the history of Ancient Russia, and the Polovtsy – a people that disappeared off the face of the earth. In his time Borodin became one of the leading experts on the monument of old Russian literature “The Lay of Prince Igor’s Host” (this was, in fact, the literary original that his opera was based on). Not only was Borodin acquainted with all details of the numerous existing translations of this composition, but he studied ancient Slav and… created his own poetic texts for his opera, worthy of the pen of this country’s best poets (yet another talent among scores of other gifts this unique person possessed!)

Borodin was only 52 when during one Shrovetide evening, in the very midst of the merrymaking (of which he was a central figure) he died within the minute due to a rupture of the heart… None of those present could believe the fact!

Alexander Borodin, a genius who blazed his trail across the horizon like a comet… He shone his stupendous multi-faceted talent on the surrounding space, and disappeared as quickly as he’d come…

Still, the world did get to hear his symphonies and quartets, romances and piano pieces. And the principal creation of his musical self – the opera “Prince Igor”. 

Ancient Russ… The 12th century… The beginning of a tragic, cruel and bloody epoch in Russian history. The country, split into scores of tiny princedoms, was weakening… It was no longer able to withstand the onslaughts of enemies, among which the Polovtsy tribes were the most powerful. Prince Igor, who made the first attempt to unite the Russian princedoms, suffered a total defeat of his troops in a bloody battle with the Polovtsy on the river Kayala.

…Lines from the Old Russian literary monument “The Lay of Prince Igor’s Host”, which narrated those global events in Russian history and served as the story line for Borodin’s opera:

Would it not befit us, my brethren, to begin, in age-old words,
The woeful tale of the warfare waged by Igor,
Igor, son of Svyatoslav,
Who girded up his wisdom
With his might, and whetted his heart with valour,
And, moved by the spirit of warfare,
Led his valiant host into the land of the Polovtsy,
For the cause of the Russian land…

It is customary to believe that the opera “Prince Igor” is as much a brainchild of the “Mighty Five”, as that of Borodin himself. And to a degree this is true.

Always busy, involved in a multitude of projects, not related to music, Borodin labored over his “Prince Igor” for almost  twenty years. He never did complete it – it was his friends who did it for him: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Glazunov. While throughout those twenty years all his friends from the “Mighty Five” endlessly encouraged him, pushing him on to complete the task. However, they were not always successful: at times there’s be a break of several years, until Borodin would be inspired one fine day to produce several dozen pages or so for the score…

At the time when “Prince Igor” was conceived, composers of the “Mighty Five” were particularly drawn to Russian historical subjects (Rimsky-Korsakov wrote his “Pskovitiyanka”, Mussorgsky – “Boris Godunov” operas). Quite possibly, the general mood of his friends impacted Borodin, too. In any case, he suddenly decided he’d write “Prince Igor”, and nothing else!

A detailed plan of the opera was created by the devoted ally of the “Mighty Five”, critic Vladimir Stasov. Alexander Borodin wrote to him: “You have simply done all the work for me!

In actual fact, Borodin himself did an amazing amount of scientific work. Which is hardly surprising, since he was a scientist after all. Working on the opera “Prince Igor” Borodin became an expert in the sphere of old Russian literature and even linguistics. Borodin studied all possible translations of the main source material for his opera – “The Lay of Prince Igor’s Host”, from old Slav into contemporary language! Moreover, he wrote the texts for his opera himself.

On the Danube Yaroslavna’s voice is heard.
Like a lone cuckoo she cries aloud in the early morn-
“I shall fly,” - says she, “down the Danube,
Like a lone cuckoo.
I shall moisten my beaver sleeve
In the Kayala river.
I shall staunch my prince’s gory wounds
On his mighty body.”
Yaroslavna weeps in the early morn
On the walls of Putivl…

Imagine, one of the most amazing scientific discoveries is linked with the opera “Prince Igor”! The fact is, among the principal heroes of the opera are Polovtsy – a people who disappeared off the face of the earth.

Borodin studied the history of the Polovtsy, embarked on a detailed correspondence with scientists who found traces of the Polovtsy culture in Hungary. But to a large extent, his music of the Polovtsy was an example of foresight of genius. Only in our time were real-life historical materials discovered by ethnographers in Russia, in Kalmykia. The Kalmyks are a people whose roots are the closest linked to the Polovtsy! And their music is incredibly similar to the music invented by Borodin!
 

He became a giant of a composer practically overnight. And this was one of the profoundest shocks experienced by the composers of the “Mighty Five”, who had hardly made their acquaintance with him. Music critic Vladimir Stasov, so to say the ideological leader of the group, wrote at the time: “This remarkable transformation of Borodin from dilettante into a genius of a master is a psychological mystery that nobody will ever explain!”

The two symphonies by Borodin are of course remarkably popular, yet the opera “Prince Igor” is more often referred to as the principal brainchild of his life. It is customary to refer to it as a musical epos of genius”. Similarly, it’s customary to stress the composer’s general inclination towards a generalized, monumental-epic vision of the world…

Certainly, Borodin’s music lends numerous grounds for such assertions. However, I am sure you will be interested to learn what priorities the composer himself set forth. Here is his admission: “I am first and foremost a symphonist and lyricist.”

There is a remarkable concentration of profound and subtle lyricism in his chamber music.

Borodin dedicated his 2nd Quartet to his wife, a woman, love for whom time was powerless over. He conceived his quartet in 1881. This music came to him practically in one go, on the day of a very special jubilee – twenty years later he could still recall every detail of the moment when he declared his love for her…

After the unexpected untimely demise of her spouse, Yelena Protopopova-Borodina couldn’t go on without him and survived him by only a few months… Few are destined to love and live like that…
 

As a rule, when enumerating members of the “Mighty Five”, the name of Caesar Cui comes up last. In a way this is understandable: alongside the acknowledged “Greats” everything he produced seems more modest, and this composer’s name fades into the background. However, it is no less a fact that the music written by Cui is amazingly harmonious, exquisite and beautiful.

No one ever ‘went crazy’ about Cui’s music – but then again, no one ever protested against it. There were no sensational premieres, but his music was loved. While his friends from the “Mighty Five” had a tremendous respect for Cui.

Incidentally, where did this unusual for Russia name spring from: Caesar Cui? By origin he was part French – part Lithuanian. Basing on his ‘genetics’, music critic Vladimir Stasov once came up with his portrait (very true, in our opinion).

“A sparkle, elegance, European intellect, generally European traits both in character and talent, were inherited by him from Western Europe, from his father’s bloodline; a profound cordiality, warmth, spiritual beauty – came from the Lithuanian roots, are typical generally of the Slavs, and were something he got from his mother, of course…”

At the time when Cesar Cui was writing his opuses (the second half of the 19th century – early 20th, a period of sensational revelations and super innovations!) – it was almost a heroic feat to remain the way he was. Some branded this as ‘conservatism’, but few would dare to dispute that his music was always harmonious and flawless…

Curiously, this person of ‘moderate views’ in music was a most daring innovator in the sphere of… fortification! Imagine, Cesar Cui was a very famous person in this particular area of military science, the author of works that many generations in the military profession studied and learned from! And not only in Russia, but in all of Europe. He was a highly respected composer and… a General!

It remains a mystery just when he found time to write music. And Cui wrote a great deal: romances alone number 300, operas – 14. By the way, it was his opera “William Ratcliffe” that launched the ‘season’ of opera masterpieces turned out by the “Mighty Five”. As his colleagues from the group acknowledged, this first experiment became a springboard for their own efforts. However, how easy can it be to hold one’s own alongside such works as “Boris Godunov” or “Prince Igor”? Today we know practically nothing of Caesar Cui’s opera music.

The author of polished, and refined music, Cui, believe it or not, was a most blunt and belligerent music critic. Many received the full force of his barbed tongue. He spared no one, not even Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff! You will say: “A conservative retrograde”! Far from it! Cesar Cui was, for example, among the first to predict a great future for the then quite unacknowledged music of Mussorgsky.

Towards himself Cui was no less critical. “They praise my romances to lyrics by Pushkin,” he said. “While it is all really due to the verses of genius. My own talent is modest, and I have said nothing new, I am but a continuer…”