Stanisław Moniuszko

This composer, born in 1819 in Ubiel, began learning to play the piano at the age of 8 with August Freyer in Warsaw. He then went to Mińsk, where Dominik Stefanowicz gave him lessons. In 1937, he went to Berlin to improve his skills and expand his knowledge in harmony, counterpoint, conducting, and instrumentation. There he also conducted choirs, accompanied singers, and studied conducting techniques.
From Berlin, he went to Vilnius, where he became an organist at the churches of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist. There, Moniuszko significantly contributed to the revival of local music. He assembled an orchestra that later accompanied the choir, and with which he could present works such as Mozart's 'Requiem,' 'The Creation of the World,' and excerpts from Haydn's oratorios and Mendelssohn's oratorio 'St. Paul.' He then went to St. Petersburg to present his own compositions. He was very well received there and befriended some Russian composers such as Mikhail Glinka, Alexander Dargomyzhsky, Cesar Cui, and Alexander Serov.
In 1848, the premiere of the two-act opera 'Halka' took place in Vilnius, which the artist conducted himself. Thanks to the success of the new four-act version of the same opera at the premiere in Warsaw in 1858, the artist traveled to France and Germany. Upon returning to his country, he became the first conductor of the Polish Opera at the Grand Theatre. In the same year, he presented the one-act opera 'The Raftsman,' after which new operas appeared over the next fifteen years. The majority of the operas he conducted were his own compositions, with only a few exceptions such as 'Le cheval de bronze' and 'Haydée' by Daniel François Esprit Auber, whose music influenced Moniuszko's work.
In 1862, the artist went to Paris with hopes of presenting his operas, but he never succeeded. Additionally, the difficult political situation and the January Uprising did not favor the development of art, and Moniuszko slowed down his work pace. Nevertheless, the premiere of 'The Haunted Manor' in 1865 enjoyed comparable success to 'Halka.' Other well-known works of this composer include 'The Countess,' 'Noble Word,' and 'The Pariah.'
Moniuszko's music is highly acclaimed and widely regarded as exemplary Slavic music. The artist passed away in 1872 in Warsaw, and his funeral, attended by crowds, became a national manifestation of Polish identity.