Sunday 6 June 2010
Tune of the Day: Polonaise No. 13
“Farewell to the Fatherland”
As a composer, Polish statesman Michał Kleofas Ogiński is chiefly noted for his piano works, particularly the polonaises, the melancholy, lyrical mood of which suited the taste of the times and expressed Polish patriotism. Ogiński wrote about 20, published in many editions in Poland and abroad, the best-known being the Polonaise No. 13 in A minor, titled “Pożegnanie Ojczyzny” (“Farewell to the Fatherland”). Written in 1823, this piece became extremely popular in Russia and was soon arranged for a variety of instrumental settings.