Michał Kleofas Ogiński was a Polish composer, writer, diplomat and politician, Lithuanian Grand Treasurer and Russian senator. He is best known for his polonaise “Pożegnanie Ojczyzny” (Farewell to the Fatherland).
Background
Michał Kleofas Ogiński was born on September 25, 1765, in Guzów, Żyrardów County (near Warsaw) in the Kingdom of Poland. The Ogiński family was a powerful noble family of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland. His father, Andrzej Ogiński, was a Polish nobleman and governor of Troki, in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. His mother, Paulina Szembek, was the daughter of the Polish magnate, Marek Szembek, whose ancestors were Austrian, and Jadwiga Rudnicka, who was of Lithuanian descent. His first introduction to music arose during a visit to relatives at Słonim where his relative Michał Kazimierz Ogiński had a contemporary European theatre that hosted opera and ballet productions.
Education
Taught at home, young Ogiński excelled especially at music and foreign languages. Having first learnt to play the violin and clavichord as well as theory and basso generale from Józef Kozłowski in Guzów, Ogiński took violin lessons with Ivan Mane Jarnovic in Warsaw from 1782 as well as instructions from violin virtuosi Giovanni Battista Viotti and Pierre Baillot during his stays abroad in 1798 and 1810, respectively.
Career
Ogiński did not intend to become a professional musician. He was just twenty-one when he got involved in politics as a deputy to the Sejm (Polish parliament) and adherent of King Stanisław August Poniatowski, who made him Treasury Commissioner of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1790-1791, he travelled to Hague, Amsterdam and London in a diplomatic capacity on a mission to grow Poland's trade with Western Europe using the sea route. He took part in the work of the Four Years Sejm in 1788-1792, yet did not support the Constitution of 3 May. In 1793, the Sejm appointed him Under-Treasurer of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Although he belonged to the group of politicians who had signed partition treaties with Russia and Prussia, he did take part in the Kosciuszko Uprising of 1794, leading his own mounted rifle regiment. After Vilnius had fallen, he made for Warsaw, and following the battle of Maciejowice, he left for Vienna and afterwards for Venice. His rejection of the offer made by Alexander Suvorov, the commander of the Russian troops, resulted in the seizure of his property.
Ogiński remained politically active while in emigration. Living in Paris in 1797-1798, he met personally Napoleon Bonaparte and sought support for the Polish Commonwealth. He even dedicated his only opera “Zelis et Valcour” to Napoleon. At the end of 1801, he was allowed to return to Russia on condition of pledging allegiance to Tsar Alexander I, he settled in Zalesie near Vilnius. Adam Jerzy Czartoryski introduced him to Tsar Alexander I, who made Ogiński a Russian Senator. Ogiński tried in vain to convince the Tsar to reconstitute the former Commonwealth. Loyalty was his attitude to Alexander I during the campaign of 1812. Later he got involved with Vilnius cultural circles, organizing performances and concerts, and serving as president of the Typographic Society and member of the Charitable Society. In 1823, he eventually settled in Florence, where continued his work as a composer.
Achievements
Michał Kleofas Ogiński composed 26 polonaises, many piano pieces, mazurkas, marches, romances and waltzes. His marches and military songs were very popular among the rebels of 1794. As a composer, he is best known for his polonaise “Pożegnanie Ojczyzny” (Farewell to the Fatherland), written in 1794 in the Zalesie region on the occasion of his emigration to western Europe after the failure of the Kościuszko Uprising. This piece, with its unreservedly melancholic melodies and fantasia-like passages, can be considered among the earliest examples of romantic music.
During the Kościuszko Uprising in 1794, Ogiński commanded his own unit. After the uprising, he migrated to France, where he sought Napoleon's support for the Polish Commonwealth. He thought that the creation of the Duchy of Warsaw by the Emperor was a stepping stone to eventual full independence of the Commonwealth, but disappointed with Napoleon, he returned to Vilnius. Later Ogiński tried in vain to convince the Tsar to reconstitute the former Commonwealth. Disillusioned, he moved abroad in 1815 and withdrew from political activity.
Interests
Music & Bands
French and Italian opera.
Connections
Ogiński married Izabela Lasocka in 1789. They divorced in 1803. His second wife was Maria de Néri.
Father:
Andrius Ogiński
His father Andrius was Lithuanian nobleman and governor of Trakai, in Lithuania
Mother:
Paula Paulina Szembek
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.
