Career
First publications of Kozlovsky’s works appeared in St. Petersburg. However, his musical development had begun long before – during the Belarusian period of his creative work. His compositions were recognized immediately in Russia, whose culture was apprehensive of Western trends. Osip Kozlovsky was able to adapt in a natural way many innovations to Russia’s artistic reality. His art songs entitled Songs of Russia (1790s) were an important landmark in the development of Russian vocal lyric and laid the foundation of the Europeanized Russian romance. Kozlovsky developed the orchestra polonaise into the main court dance and even the Russian anthem. In Russia, he composed other works related to Western musical trends. In addition to the Requiem, he wrote the cantata Te Deum Laudeamus commemorating the victorious end of the war against Napoleon.