Michał Kleofas Ogiński

Michał Kleofas Ogiński

Michał Kleofas Ogiński (Lithuanian: Mykolas Kleopas Oginskis, Belarusian: Міхал Клеафас Агінскі) (25 September 1765 - 15 October 1833)^[1] was a Polish composer,^[2][3][4] diplomat and politician^[5][6][7], Lithuanian Grand Treasurer and Russian senator.^[8]

Life

Ogiński was born in Guzów, Żyrardów County (near Warsaw)^[1] in the Polish Kingdom (part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). His father Andrius was Lithuanian nobleman and governor of Trakai, in Lithuania; his mother, Paula Paulina Szembek (1740–1797), was a daughter of the Polish magnate, Marek Szembek whose ancestors were Austrians and Yadviga Rudnicka who was of polonised Lithuanian descent (family name's root is of Lithuanian origin and the suffix indicates polonisation of her family name).^{[citation needed]}

Taught at home, young Ogiński excelled especially at music and foreign languages. He studied under Józef Kozłowski, and later took violin lessons from Viotti and Baillot.^[1]

Ogiński served as an adviser to King Stanisław August Poniatowski and supported him during the Great Sejm of 1788–1792.^[9] After 1790, he was dispatched to Hague as a diplomatic representative of Poland in the Netherlands^[10][11] and was Polish agent in Constantinople and Paris.^[8] In 1793, he was nominated to the office of the Treasurer in Lithuania.^[8][9] During Kościuszko Uprising in 1794, Ogiński commanded his own unit.^[12] After the insurrection was suppressed, he emigrated to France, where he sought Napoleon's support for the Polish cause.^[9] At that period he saw a creation of the Duchy of Warsaw by the Emperor as a stepping stone to eventual full independence of Poland, and dedicated his only opera, Zelis et Valcour, to Napoleon.^[13] In 1810, Ogiński withdrew from political activity in exile^[8] and disappointed with Napoleon^[14] returned to Vilna. Andrzej Jerzy Czartoryski introduced him to Tsar Alexander I, who made Ogiński a Russian Senator. Ogiński tried in vain to convince the Tsar to rebuild the Polish State. He moved abroad in 1815 and died in 1833 in Florence.^[9]

As a composer he is best known for his Polonaise 'A Farewell to the Homeland' ('Pożegnanie Ojczyzny')^[2] written on the occasion of his emigration to Western Europe after the failure of the Kosciuszko Insurrection^[12][15]

Chronology

• 1786 – Polish Sejm deputy.
• 1789 – Sword-bearer of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
• 1790/1791 – Envoy Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Netherlands.
• 1791 – Returned to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to decide a point of his family lands since Russia had occupied some of them.
• 1793 – Deputy to the Hrodna Sejm.
• 1793–94 – Deputy Treasurer in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
• 1794 – Participant in the Kościuszko Uprising.
  • Donated 188,000 złotys, was in command of 480 riflemen.

Ogiński's tomb, Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence

• • Twice attempted to enter Minsk Governorate to raise Belarusians against Russian occupation.
  • Also struggled against Prussian intervention.

When the Russians occupied Vilnius, he moved to Warsaw. The Russians outlawed him and seized all his lands. Thereafter he lived in exile successively in Vienna, Venice and Paris.

• 1802 – Thanks to the good offices of Duke Czartoryski^{[clarification needed]}, Oginski returned to Lithuania.

He swore allegiance to Tsar Alexander I of Russia and settled in Zalesie village, Ashmyany region, in present-day Belarus. At the new place of living Oginski built a new palace, an English-style park, a greenhouse, a zoopark and collected a lot of books for his library.

• 1807 – Oginski met Napoleon in Italy.
• 1810 – Oginski moved to St. Petersburg, Russia. There he met the Russian Emperor, who gave Oginski the rank of Senator and Privy Councilor. Also he was conferred decorations upon St Vladimir and Alexander Nevski.

• May, 1811 – Oginski introduced to the Emperor Alexander I of Russia his project of restoring independence of his fatherland. But the Emperor refused.

• 1823 – Oginski moved to Florence, Italy where lived till the death.

Works

Oginski was fond of Italian and French Opera, played violin, clavichord and balalaika. He started composing marches and military songs in 1790's and became popular among the rebels in 1794.

He composed some 20 polonaises^[1], various piano pieces, mazurkas, marches, romances and waltzes. In 1794 he wrote a polonaise 'A Farewell to the Homeland' ('Pożegnanie ojczyzny').^[3]

Some of his other popular works and compositions include:

• Opera 'Zelis et Valcour ou Bonaparte au Caire' (1799).^[1]
• Treatise 'Letters about music' (1828).
• 'Memoirs on Poland and the Poles, 1788–1815' ('Memoires sur la Pologne et les Polonais, depute 1788 jusqu'a la fin de 1815')^[16], published in Paris.

Ogiński

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Don Michael Randel, The Harvard bibliographical dictionary of music, Cambridge University Press, 1996, p. 649
2. ^ ^{a b} Jim Samson, The Cambridge Companion to Chopin, Cambridge University Press, 1995, p. 148
3. ^ ^{a b} Kielian-Gilbert, Marianne, Chopiniana and Music’s Contextual Allusions in: The age of Chopin: interdisciplinary inquiries, ed. Halina Goldberg, Indiana University Press, 2004, p. 182
4. ^ Justin Wintle, Makers of nineteenth century culture: 1800-1914, Routledge, 2002, p. 116
5. ^ Jerzy Lojek, British policy toward Russia and Polish affairs 1790-1791, The Polish review, Vol. 28/No. 2, Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in America, 1983, p. 10
6. ^ Maciej Karpińki, The theatre of Andrzej Wajda, Cambridge University Press, 1989, p. 131
7. ^ Antony Brett-James, 1812: eyewitness accounts of Napolean's defeat in Russia, St. Martin's Press 1966, p. 40
8. ^ ^{a b c d} Roman Marcinek, Tadeusz Chrzanowski, Encyklopedia Polski, Wyd. Kluszczyński, 1996, p. 457
9. ^ ^{a b c d} Jerzy Jan Lerski, Historical dictionary of Poland, 966-1945, Greenwood Press, 1996. p. 400
10. ^ John Ehrman, The Younger Pitt: The reluctant transition, Stanford University Press, 1983, pp. 10, 13
11. ^ Lennart Bes et al. Baltic connections: archival guide to the maritime relations of the countries around the Baltic Sea (including the Netherlands) 1450-1800, Volume 1, Brill, 2007, p. 1853
12. ^ ^{a b} Michael J. Mikoś, Polish Baroque and Enlightenment literature: an anthology, Slavica Publishers, 1996, p. 190
13. ^ Iwo Załuski, A Polish family in music - Prince Michal Kleofas Oginski's musical gene lives on, Contemprorary Reviev, February 1997
14. ^ "In short, I felt, says Oginski, that Poland must be dependent either on France or Russia, and between the two, I saw greater chance of its welfare, and greater hopes even of its recovering its nationality under the sceptre of the Emperor Alexander." in: The Foreign quarterly review, Vol. 3, Treuttel and Würtz, 1829, p. 491
15. ^ Bolesław Klimaszewski, An outline of Polish culture, Interpress, 1984, p. 159
16. ^ J. C. Garlington, Men of the Time. A biographical dictionary of eminent living characters of both sexes, George Routlege and sons, 1865, p. 177

External links

• Free scores by Michał Kleofas Ogiński in the Werner Icking Music Archive (WIMA)
• Free scores by Michał Kleofas Ogiński at the International Music Score Library Project
• Michał Kleofas Ogiński: Thematic Catalogue of Compositions
• Ogiński's biography at Polish Music Center

Persondata
Name	Oginski, Michal Kleofas
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	25 September 1765
Place of birth
Date of death	15 October 1833
Place of death