What is The Five (composers)?
'''The Five''', often known as '''The Mighty Handful''', are a group of five [[Russia]]n [[composer]]s who met regularly in [[Saint Petersburg]], [[Russia]], in the mid-19th century. The Russian name for the group: ''Moguchaya kuchka'' (''The Mighty Handful'') was given to them by [[Vladimir Stasov]], the famous [[music critic]]. The five composers were: [[Mily Balakirev]], [[César Cui]], [[Modest Mussorgsky]], [[Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov]] and [[Alexander Borodin]]. The group all wanted to write music in a Russian style, rather than imitating European composers. They were part of the movement known in music as [[Nationalism]]. They were five of the most important composers of the time. Note that [[Tchaikovsky]] was not one of the group. His music is more European-based, but he, too, often wrote very Russian music based on folk tunes. ==History== Before The Five were established as a group, [[Mikhail Glinka]] and [[Alexander Dargomyzhsky]] were trying to create a Russian kind of music. All the composers of The Five were [[amateur]] composers. This does not mean that they were bad, it means that they earned their living in other ways and composed when they had time. Rimsky-Korsakov was a [[naval]] [[officer]], Borodin was a professor of [[chemistry]], Cui was an expert in military [[armament]]s and Mussorgsky had been in the Guards and then in the [[civil service]] before he took up music full time.<ref>Figes, Orlando, ''Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia'', 2002, ISBN 978-0312421953 p.179.</ref> Balakirev, the leader of the group, worked for a time for the Warsaw Railways. He was the spiritual leader of the group: a kind of teacher and guide. The composers of The Five tried to put the sounds of village songs, [[Cossack]] and [[Caucasus|Caucasian]] dances, and church [[chant]]s in their music. Russian peasants used to sing folk songs in which words or syllables were spun out with several notes into a long, lyrical line. This influence can be heard in many of the Five’s works, especially in