FIVE, THE

or The Mighty Five

Group of Russian composers who, in the 1860s, banded together in an attempt to create a truly national school of Russian music.

The Five were César Cui (1835–1918), Aleksandr Borodin , Mily Balakirev , Modest Mussorgsky , and Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov . A somewhat larger group around this core was referred to as "the Mighty Handful."