The so-called "Mighty handful" (whose compositionwas very small) - this is the union of Russian composers, which was formed in the late 50s-early 60s of the 19th century. It was also called the “New Russian Music School” or the Balakirevsky Circle. The very same name was instilled by the critic Stasov V.V. and took root instantly, becoming the common name of the union. Abroad it was called the "five".
Who was part of the "Mighty Handful"? Balakirev M.A., Borodin A.P., Mussorgsky M.P., Cui C.A. and Rimsky-Korsakov N.A. These talented composers sought to find new forms in which they could embody images from Russian modernity and native history, as well as ways to make their music more intimate and understandable to the general public. The embodiment of this approach were the operas of Borodin “Prince Igor”, Rimsky-Korsakov “Pskovytyanka”, Mussorgsky “Khovanshchina” and “Boris Godunov”. It was folk tales, epos, national history and folk life that became sources of inspiration for composers' symphonic and vocal works.
Community history
So, "Mighty Handful", its composition and historycreation. In 1855, young Milii Alekseevich Balakirev arrives from Kazan to the capital, performs as a pianist with great success, is loved by the public, meets Vladimir Vasilyevich Stasov (a famous critic, historian, art historian and archeologist, was associated with all the major Russian artists and musicians, assistant, adviser and propagandist of their works). A year later, Balakirev met with Caesar Antonovich Cui. He studied at the Military Engineering Academy, but he was madly in love with music, and therefore was so carried away by the bold views and suggestions of a new acquaintance that he wrote the operas The Prisoner of the Caucasus, The Son of Mandarin and the Scherzo for Piano.
A little later, "The mighty handful" (composition:Balakirev, Stasov, Cui) was replenished by the addition of Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, a guard officer of the Preobrazhensky regiment, who realized that his vocation was music. He retires, is engaged in music, literature, philosophy, history, enjoys the views of new friends. In the early 1960s, the “Mighty Handful” (the composition at that time: Balakirev, Cui, Stasov, Mussorgsky), which Dargomyzhsky sympathized with, was enriched with the advent of Alexander Porfirievich Borodin and Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov. Borodin was self-taught in music, but self-taught was versatile and very diligent. While still a student at the Medical-Surgical Academy, he played cello in various amateur ensembles, wrote several chamber compositions. His erudition and bright talent very quickly understood and appreciated Balakirev. Well, Rimsky-Korsakov was already an established figure in music, a genius whose works the public loved very much.
The main ideas of the "handful"
It is the life, aspirations and interests of the Russian people.became the main theme in the work of members of the Balakirev circle. The “mighty handful” of composers (their composition was not limited to the five, because many eminent writers of that time knew or were friends with the “Küchkists”) wrote down, studied samples of folk art and folklore, woven folk songs and legends . Examples of such masterpieces are “The Snow Maiden”, “Khovanshchina”, “Tsar's Bride”, “Boris Godunov”. The eastern element, the melodies of other nations - Ukrainians, Georgians, Tatars, Spaniards, Czechs and many others turned out to be important. They are “Islamey”, “Tamara”, “Prince Igor”, “Golden Cockerel”, “Scheherazade”.
