Oginsky

about

Ogiński was born in Guzów, Żyrardów County, in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, now in Poland. His father Andrzej was governor of Trakai, in Lithuania; his mother, Paulina, was a daughter of the Polish magnate, Szembek. Taught at home, young Ogiński excelled especially at music and foreign languages. Ogiński became an ambassador, composer, and paymaster-general of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Being a well-known musician and a composer, Oginski was fond of Italian and French Opera, played violin, clavichord and balalaika. He started composing marches and military songs in 1790's and become popular among rebels in 1794. Some historians consider Oginski composed music for the song Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła (Poland has not yet perished), which became the Polish National Hymn later. Living in Zalesie, present-day Zaleśsie (Belarus), and later Helenów (Poland), Oginski devoted himself to music composing. During that period he composed music for the polonaise Pożegnanie Ojczyzny (Farewell to the Homeland).[citation needed] Also he composed a lot of piano pieces, polonaises, mazurkas, marches, romances and waltzes. Popular works and compositions: * opera Zelis et Valcour ou Bonaparte au Caire * treatise Letters about music (1828) * Memoirs about Poland and Poland's 1788-1815 published in Paris User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.