Moguchaya Kuchka
"The Mighty Handful"
Mily Balakirev
The leader of the
Mighty Five, Mili Balakirev, was born in January 1837 in Nizhny Novgorod.
The son of a public official, Balakirev’s mother taught him piano lessons
at an early age. Soon after Balakirev was befriended by a rich neighboring
landowner, Alexander Uliishev. This benefactor was the author of
a biography of Mozart. In 1855 Alexander Ulibishev took Balakirev to
St. Petersburg so that the young musician could broaden his knowledge and
meet the great composers of the day. While he was in St. Petersburg Balakirev
was able to meet Glinka, and soon became a huge admirer of Glinka. After
Glinka died Balakirev dedicated himself to accomplishing Glinka’s goals.
(Suzanne Massie, 339). “Glinka’s dream of a national music that would draw
its inspiration from folk songs and themes of Russian folklore.” (Suzanne
Massie, 339) Balakirev was the natural leader of the
Mighty Five, as he was most happy in his career when he had a group of
other musicians with whom he could meet with and whom he could instruct
and direct. (Suzanne Massie, 339) In order to fulfill
his dream of making a national music of the people of Russia Balakirev
took a trip down the Volga River in 1858. Durning his trip, which ended
in Nizhny Novgorod, Balakirev stopped to write the songs of the people
he encountered. One of the songs “The Song of the Volga Boatmen” was composed
during this journey. (Suzanne Massie, 339) Of the Mighty
Five, Caesar Cui was the greatest supporter of Balakirev and his ideals
of music.
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