The musical treasures of St.Petersburg are, undoubtedly, an incredible,
almost unbelievable wealth! Yet, they contain something that is, indeed,
priceless. It was St.Petersburg that gave the world the Mighty Five – a
unique union of composers of sheer genius, without which the world of music
would be incomplete…
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Modest Mussorgsky, Alexander Borodin, Caesar Cui,
Mily Balakirev… An incredible five, who generously showered the world with
masterpieces - “Boris Godunov” and “Khovanshchina”, “Prince Igor” and “Bogatyr
Symphony”, “Sadko” and “The Snow Maiden” to mention just a few… But even
this is enough to make one hold his breath at the awesome magnitude of
what had been created by these composers! According to them, none of their
compositions would have been possible have the authors not been the Mighty
Five! Almost all of their scores contain the inscription: “Dedicated to
our dear Union.”
Amazing as it might seem, the unique union of Russian composers, that wrought
something of a revolution in the music world, existed as such for just
slightly over ten years, in the 60-ies – early 70-ies of the 19th century.
We are pleased to present here some little-known photos of the members
of the union, dating to that period. Many are under the delusion that the
Mighty Five was a union of mature, experienced Maitres, actually the oldest
of them all, at the time of the union’s birth, - Mily Balakirev – was but
25! While his colleagues were still very young, indeed…
In fact, it was Balakirev who conceived the notion of organizing the union. And what’s
more, if it were not for their encounter with Balakirev, the others might
very well have never become musicians at all! Balakirev was the sole professional
amongst them all – a superb pianist! At the time, Mussorgsky was studying
at the School of Ensign Guardsmen, Cui – at the Military Engineers Academy,
Borodin was attending the Military Medical Academy, while Rimsky-Korsakov
was preparing to become a naval officer. They had all come ‘especially
to study in St.Petersburg for it offered the best educational establishments.
Only Borodin was Petersburg-born and -bred. They met quite by accident
– all of them shared a passion for music and frequented musical soirees.
Incidentally, do you know what ‘Shakespeare of music’ – Mussorgsky – was
like at the time? Borodin gave such a description of him in his memoirs :
“Mussorgsky was then just a mere boy, slight, like a picture-book officer:
in a trim uniform, of very straight bearing, his hair neatly combed and
slicked back, hands well-groomed, soft and sort of lady-like. The ladies
flocked to him and cooed over him. He would sit at the piano, coquettishly
splaying his hands, and play quite sweetly, with an inherent grace, while
all around would murmur: “Charmant, delicieux!”
So, the future ‘titans’ of the composing world for a long time had no notion
of embracing a career in music. They played but for their own pleasure.
But let’s give Russian dilettante-musicians their due - in the late 18th
– and throughout the 19th centuries they ‘ruled supreme’ in music! At the
initiative of these amateur musicians there was a vibrant concert life
in Russia. At the time, it was next to impossible to find anyone who was
not interested in music to some degree. Thus, Borodin, while studying medicine,
played the cello or piano in the evenings together with his friend. And
they played their way through all existing symphonic music! Having once
looked through the sheet music, Borodin was perfectly able to repeat any
composition from any point.
Of course,all these people were talented from birth: Rimsky-Korsakov possessed a
unique ‘color’ ear for music, Balakirev could work magic at the piano,
while Borodin had a phenomenal memory and intuition… But composing is just
another story. As the union members firmly believed, they owed everything
to the existence of their Mighty Five. Balakirev was the catalyst, the
driving force, and, finally, - the teacher there. All the first tentative
opuses of our heroes were written under his supervision. And the long evenings
spent in each others’ company were when they played their way through practically
all music ever written! In fact, the overall sum total of their knowledge
was received by them there and then – within their music circle. And this
was not limited to music only! They dwelt on literature and history as
well. They even read together books on… natural sciences or geography.
In Mussorgsky’s letters we read: “I am reading up on Geology. Fascinating
stuff!” Or, in Rimsky-Korsakov’s: “We are experiencing an overwhelming
thirst for knowledge!”
So, the Mighty Five was a University, of sorts, where five musical geniuses
received an education.
…It really is a miracle: how could five equally great talents be born simultaneously?
What’s more, people whose talent was not at all limited to the sphere of
music? Borodin became a celebrated chemist, whose scientific discoveries
have lost none of their value today. Cui was a brilliant military engineer,
famous all over Europe!
Some might say of Cui: his is a less striking composing talent, than that of his colleagues. While
the latter did not think so at all. Perhaps his operas might not be all
that good, yet his chamber music, the ballads and instrumental miniatures
are wonderful, indeed!
The head of the Mighty Five – Mily Balakirev, deserves special mention.
Alas, we know much less about his music, than that of his colleagues.
“He had great personal charm,” Rimsky-Korsakov wrote about Balakirev. “Young,
with fire in his eyes, decisive, and direct in his speech, every minute
ready to produce remarkable piano improvisations, committing to memory
every bar of music he heard, every piece of music played for him. His influence
on those surrounding him was immense, and resembled a magical or spiritual
s?ance.”
As a teacher Balakirev was tyrannical. Everything would be upturned, rehashed,
razed to the foundation. Was this correct? All we know is that his pupils
evolved into totally unlike one another Maitres… What of Balakirev-the
composer? Unbelievable, but he was tormented by doubts, hesitant, and wrote
slowly and laboriously… He revealed for public judgment only a small fraction
of what he actually wrote. Yet, note the priceless value of his “Islamey”
alone! This was nothing short of a revolution in 19th century piano music.
For the first time, the piano was expressing all the nuances of rhythm
and melody, as well as methods of playing Caucasian instruments! His contemporaries
– Berlioz, and Liszt, for example – raved over Balakirev’s “Islamey”!
Invariably, one may sense similar notes in the music of his friends from
the Mighty Five: “Scheherazade”, “The Polovetsk Dances” and many others
– the composers of the union revealed an obvious fascination for Oriental
music, music of the Caucuses, as well as that of other peoples. And it
was Balakirev who ignited this interest in them, he frequently went on
folklore trips, bringing back with him to St.Petersburg folk musicians
from the Caucuses. “These new sounds were a revelation for us,”
used to recall, “we were all, so to say, ‘reborn’ at the time!”
 Borodin
All the musicians of the “Five” nurtured several common ‘dominant ideas’.
The principal one being National Roots in music. As you see, they understood
this in a quite broad sense. They had one and the same idol in music –
Mikhail Glinka. Mussorgsky enjoyed philosophizing on this score: “what
we crave is to fraternize with the popular masses – not just forge an acquaintance
with them!” Or: “The folk nature is teeming with fresh, untouched by art
facets! So vibrant, so wonderful!” And as an example – quoting not one’s
own opuses, but Borodin’s!
The creation of National opera as a genre was another ‘idea fixee’ of the
Mighty Five. One idea, yet so many variants were produced! Take Rimsky-Korsakov,
for example: he churned out fairy-tale opuses, byliny-operas of epic nature,
opera-grotesque, for example “Kashchey the Immortal” – still raved over
by avid proponents of avant-garde! Borodin, of course, stands for powerfully
epic opera. Mussorgsky epitomizes the national social drama. Let’s again
quote the composer himself - he could formulate his own ideas better than
anyone else: “The minute facets of human nature and human masses, a pernicious
taking apart of these little-studied worlds and the conquering of them
– there lies the true vocation of an artist.”
In fact, the idea of this opera does not belong to Mussorgsky himself,
as is the case with many other, super-popular today opuses by the “Five”.
The fact is, the “Five” were actually joined by a sixth – music critic
Vladimir Stasov. May he be a shining example for his colleagues of today!
Not only did he write superlatively about the music of the composers from
the Mighty Five, but was often a most energetic initiator of productions
and concert renditions of their works. Finally, Vladimir Stasov was a fount
of priceless ideas, of which he gave freely. Thus, the operas “Boris Godunov”
and “Khovanshchina” were conceived, as was “Prince Igor”. “Stasov elaborated
the details with such precision, there is simply nothing left for me to
do!” Borodin laughingly said.
Curiously, one other idea of Stasov’s couldn’t take root for a long time:
he unearthed in old manuscripts a long-forgotten legend about the Novgorod
psaltery-player Sadko. He offered it to them all, only to have it rejected!
Finally, Rimsky-Korsakov decided to give it a go. As we know, he made a
number of ‘attempts’, and first there materialized the Symphonic Fantasia,
and then years later – the wonderful opera “Sadko”.
The Mighty Five is a union of five geniuses without analogues in the entire
history of music! These people were united by common interests, shared
ideas, but, of course, each traversed his own path in music. Their composing
efforts were totally unlike one another. We all know how often one, who
is intent on one’s own ideas and perceptions, cannot give due credit to
somebody else’s. In this respect, the “Five” were unique. All the friends
were extremely supportive of each others opuses, and saw their worth immediately.
And not only within their limited circle. When the debutante Tchaikovsky
just appeared on the music horizon, Balakirev ‘sensed’ his worth at once!
“I shall make a point of conducting his very first opus,” he wrote, “even
if it be total nonsense: geniuses ought to be fostered lovingly!” No sooner
said than done.
Cui and Rimsky-Korsakov finished what their colleague Dargomyzhsky failed
to complete, thanks to them we now know his opera “The Stone Guest”.
“Khovanshchina” was also a result of efforts by Rimsky-Korsakov. Borodin’s
“Prince Igor’ enjoyed the same destiny. Borodin never seemed to have enough
time – he was so immersed in his world of chemistry. All of his music was
written under the insistence of his Mighty Five colleagues, and still he
could not complete his “Prince Igor” – his friends did this for him…
…The Mighty Five – a wonderful union of five geniuses… Who, incidentally, never aspired to
such a title! They were people who wrote music simply because they loved
it and they enjoyed sharing it with their friends...
How could they possibly guess at the time, that their music would be timeless,
that it would be a precursor of things to come in the music world dozens,
even hundreds of years later? “The Polovetsk Dances” by Borodin is, perhaps,
one of the most miraculous of forecasts. At the time nobody knew just what
the music of the Polovtsy – a people believed to have disappeared without
trace – possibly sounded like. Some twenty or so years ago ethnographers
discovered traces of the Polovetsk culture, and it transpired that Borodin
had ‘guessed’ their music most remarkably!
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