Feliks Janiewicz - Mazurek (Słotwiński)

Alt. Rondo in Ab-Major "Mazurek"
Pianist: Artur Słotwiński / @arturslotwinski
Feliks Janiewicz (1762-1848) was a very successful violinist and composer who was born in Vilnius, then part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and took a rather roundabout course through Europe ending up in England. Janiewicz began his early career as a violinist at the Polish Royal Chapel, but he fell into the gravity of Vienna, where he went to hear Haydn and Mozart. From there, he travelled through Italy and France, absorbing music as he went along. When the French revolution broke out, Janiewicz fled to the British Isles, where he would settle for the rest of his life. Across the channel, he proved to be an able violinist, giving performances alongside the likes of Gryowetz and Corri. Along the same vein, he served as one of the original performers of the London Philharmonic Society. As a composer, his music is stylistically Viennese with some Italian lyrical flair, but his work is rife with homages to his native Poland.