The Mighty Handful, also known as The Five in English-speaking countries (and by comparable translation of such in other languages), was a label applied in 1867 by the critic Vladimir Stasov to a loose collection of Russian classical composers brought together under the leadership of Mily Balakirev with the aim of producing a specifically Russian kind of art music rather than one that imitated older European music or relied on European-style conservatory training. Stasov is a quintessential family of Russian intelligentsia. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Jump to: navigation, search A composer is a person who writes music. ... Balakirevs grave at Tikhvin Cemetery. ...

The original Russian name for this group is "Могучая кучка" [Mogučaja kučka], which means roughly "mighty handful," the second word of the moniker constituting a diminutive of the word for "heap" or "pile." The derivative term "kuchkist" soon came to be applied as well.

The other members of "The Five" were César Cui, Alexander Borodin, Modest Mussorgsky and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Before them, Mikhail Glinka and Alexander Dargomyzhsky had gone some way towards producing a distinctly Russian kind of music, writing operas on Russian subjects, but the Mighty Handful represented the first concentrated attempt to develop such a music, with Stasov as their artistic advisor, so to speak. As a group they began to fall apart during the 1870s, no doubt partially due to the fact that Balakirev withdrew from musical life early in the decade for a period of time. César Antonovitch Cui (Russian: Цезарь Антонович Кюи) (January 6/18, 1835 – March 13, 1918) was a Russian composer and music critic of French and Lithuanian descent. ... Borodins tomb bust at Tikhvin Cemetery Alexander Porfyrevich Borodin (Алекса́ндр Порфи́рьевич Бороди́н) (November 12, 1833 – February 27, 1887) was a Russian composer who made his living as a chemist. ... Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (Russian: Моде́ст Петро́вич Му́соргский) (March 21, 1839 – March 28, 1881; sometimes spelled Modeste Moussorgsky), was an innovative Russian composer famed for his colourful, exotic, and lush orchestral pieces dedicated to various subjects of medieval Russian history. ... Jump to: navigation, search Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (Russian: , Nikolaj Andreevič Rimskij-Korsakov), also Nikolay, Nicolai, and Rimsky-Korsakoff, (March 6/18, 1844–June 8/21, 1908) was a Russian composer and teacher of classical music particularly noted for his fine orchestration, which may have been influenced by his synaesthesia. ... Jump to: navigation, search Mikhail Glinka Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (Михаи́л Ива́нович Гли́нка) (June 1, 1804 – February 15, 1857) was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognition inside his own country, and is often regarded as the father of Russian classical music. ... Alexander Sergeyevich Dargomyzhsky (1813–1869) was an early romantic 19th century composer. ...

Except perhaps for Cui, the members of this group influenced and/or taught many of the great Russian composers who were to follow, including Alexander Glazunov, Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, Sergei Prokofiev, Igor Stravinsky, and Dmitri Shostakovich. Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov (or Glazounov) (August 10, 1865 – March 21, 1936) was a Russian composer, as well as an influential music teacher. ... Mikhail Mikhailovich Ippolitov-Ivanov (November 19, 1859 – January 28, 1935) was a Russian composer, conductor and teacher. ... Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (Russian: , April 271, 1891 – March 5, 1953) was a Ukrainian-born Russian composer who mastered numerous musical genres and came to be admired as one of the greatest composers of the 20th century. ... Jump to: navigation, search Igor Fyodorovitch Stravinsky (Russian: ) (June 17, 1882 – April 6, 1971) was a Russian-French-American composer of modern classical music. ... Jump to: navigation, search Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich listen [â–¶] (Russian: , Dmitrij Dmitrievič Å ostakovič) (September 12, 1906 (OS)/September 25, 1906 (NS) – August 9, 1975) was a Russian composer of the Soviet period. ...

The name of Les Six, an even looser collection of French-speaking composers, is derived from 'The Five'. Jump to: navigation, search Le Groupe des Six, 1922, by Jacques-Emile Blanche. ...