A minimalist at heart this Russian composer was in the company of the "moguchaya kuchka" (The Mighty Handful; The Five) which included Balakirev (the foremost and most influential member), Borodin, Musorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. Although Balakirev constantly wanted to rescore the orchestration of Cui's operas, his works were both highly praised and highly criticized (reflective of the times). Cui wrote articles and maintained the ideals of growing nationalism; these qualities were not apparent in his music as he was influenced by Auber and Meyerbeer. Writing critical reviews for a number of papers, et al, Cui's pen could be quite caustic and ascerbic. Though his own operas and orchestrations continued to suffer, these were not Cui's compositional forte. The short choral works, piano music, chamber pieces and songs for Cui revealed succinct encapsulations of mood, coloration, texture and passion. ~ Keith Johnson, Rovi