Osip Antonovich Kozlovsky was a Russian-Polish composer of Polish and Belarusian origin.
Biography
For the most part of his life Osip Kozlovsky was attached to the Russian Imperial Court, for which he wrote most of his music. In Russia he became popular especially for his patriotic polonaises. Born in Propoysk to a Belarusian szlachta, he was a choir boy at St. John's Archcathedral, Warsaw in the Polish capital. From 1775 he worked in Trakai at the palace of Tadeusz Franciszek Ogiński as a teacher of Michał Kleofas Ogiński the statesman, rebel, and composer, known for his polonaise Pożegnanie Ojczyzny / Razvitannie z Radzimaj. He moved to Russia in 1786, where he became involved in the war against Turkey. He entered the army as aide-de-camp to Prince Dolgoruky. Soon he became known to Prince Grigory Potemkin, the prime minister between 1774 and 1776. Impressed by the musical talent of Kozlovski, Potemkin introduced him to the Court. In 1791 he wrote the music for the unofficial Russian national anthem of the late 18th and early 19th centuriesGrom pobedy, razdavaysya!, text by Gavrila Derzhavin. The second part of this polonaise was later quoted by Peter Tchaikovsky in the final scene of his opera The Queen of Spades. When the private theatre of Count Nikolai Sheremetev was transferred from Kuskovo to Ostankino, Kozlovsky’s opera Russian: Зельмира и Смелон, или Взятие Измаила — to a text by Pavel Potemkin, was premiered on 22 July 1795. The famous serf soprano Praskovya Zhemchugova acted the role of the captive Turkish woman Zelmira. The opera was revived and performed again on 28 August 2004 at the same place in Ostankino. Between 1799 and 1819 Kozlovsky supervised the theatre orchestras and the theatrical college at St Petersburg. Kozlovsky composed a famous Requiem Mass in E flat minorMissa pro defunctis for the death of Stanisław August Poniatowski, the King of Poland, commissioned by the King himself before his death and performed on 25 February 1798 in St Petersburg. He wrote another requiem for the death of the Emperor Alexander I. His considerable production included stage music for Edip in Afinakh, Fingal, Tsar Edip , Esphir, liturgical music including the Te Deum, cantatas, choruses, songs, about 70 polonaises and other dance music for the court balls, etc.
Quotations
“Among the authors of the most popular Russian songs was a musician who didn’t have a single drop of Russian blood in him – Pole Osip Kozlovsky. However, he did spend a major part of his life in Russia, and, judging by his musical endeavors, succeeded in fathoming its essence…”
"Prince Grigory Potemkin celebrated the grant victory giving a ball in his palace in St Petersburg which opened with a polonaise dedicated to Alexander Suvorov. One of Suvorov’s musically endowed officers, Osip Kozlovsky, was commissioned by Potemkin to write this musical dedication which he diligently did exactly on time."
Recordings
Music at the Court of St Petersburg, Vol. 2, Composers: Bortnyansky, Teplov, Kozlovsky, etc.; Performer: Iana Ivanilova; Label: Opus 111; Catalogue Number: OPS30179; Released: 7 April 1997; Audio CD DDD
The tracks include the following works by Osip Kozlovsky:
