Who is Caesar Cui, and how the heck do you pronounce his name? Actually, I'm guessing he's a Russian composer, since I came across his name in a new song I'm working on - Tschaikowsky (And Other Russians), by Weill and Gershwin. I wonder if all the names in the song are of real composers, or if some are made up. I've only heard of about a third of the names, which makes the song quite hard to learn! But what a great little piece.

I "hit it lucky" on Google, boronia--one shot!
http://stevenestrella.com/composers/index.html?composerfiles/cui1918.html

It's an nteresting name. I tried to find out what it is in Russian and: Tsezar' Antonovich Kjui [1835-1918] is it. He belonged to a group called the Group of Five.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gruppe_der_Fünf

I always find it interesting how names get transliterated into and out of Russian.

So, his name would be pronounced "tsezar kyooie".

Thanks, folks, for the info. I've decided I had a very Andreacentric view of the song when I guessed that some names might have been made up -- just 'cuz I haven't heard of 'em, doesn't mean they aren't for real!!

I'll bet some of the music is a bit unreal tho'

For the record, the song called Tchaikovsky was introduced by Danny Kaye in the Broadway production of Lady in the Dark. And the fifty or so composers mentioned in the song were all real, including Cesar Cui. He was a prolific composer of operas, choral, chamber, and symphonic works, some of which still crop up occasionally on classical radio stations.