Oginski, Prince Michal Kleofas
Oginski, Prince Michal Kleofas
Oginski, Prince Michal Kleofas, Polish composer; b. Guzow, near Warsaw, Sept. 25, 1765; d. Florence, Oct. 15, 1833. He was a Polish nobleman of a musical family; his uncle, Michal Kazimierz Oginski (b. Warsaw, 1728; d. there, May 31, 1800), was an amateur composer of some talent. He studied violin and piano with Jozef Kozlowski in Guzow (1773–78), and later with Viotti (1798) and Baillot (1810). He was active as a diplomat; he left Poland after its partition, and agitated in Turkey and France for the Polish cause. In 1799 he wrote an opera, Zélis et Valcour ou Bonaparte au Caire, to ingratiate himself with Napoleon. Of historical interest are his polonaises, many of which were publ.; the one in A minor, known as Death Polonaise, became extremely popular. He also wrote mazurkas and waltzes for Piano, and a patriotic Polish march (1825). His son, Franciszek Krawery Oginski (1801–37), was also a composer who wrote piano pieces and songs.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire