Ostrowski, Feliks (EN)

Ostrowski Feliks, *3 January 1802 Kraśnik, †14 November 1860 Warsaw, Polish composer, pianist and teacher. He probably studied with J. Lubaczewski, music teacher at the court of the starosta E. Prażmowski (a good violinist, educated in Paris) in Gościeradów near Kraśnik or with his son, A. Lubaczewski, parish priest in Kraśnik. In 1821–1824 he was studying in Warsaw under W.W. Würfel (organ), A. Stolpe (piano) and probably J. Elsner (composition). He gave successful concerts in Poland and Ukraine, including on 25 January 1827 in Kyiv, together with K. Lipiński, S. Serwaczyński and J. Krogulski, and in Saint Petersburg, where he played Chopin’s works. After his marriage, he lived and performed in Lithuania for some time. In 1836 he gave concerts on a transposing piano (by Krall and Seidler). He abandoned concert activity after 1840 and settled in Warsaw as a music teacher at the Alexandrian Institute for the Education of Ladies in Warsaw and as a private piano teacher. Ostrowski’s daughter from his second marriage, Teodosia married Sevenard, was a singer in the theatres of Kalisz, Lviv and probably Warsaw; his son Józef (1858–1905) composed vocal romances.

Ostrowski’s piano playing was characterised by its tunefulness and virtuoso technique (he was called the “brylantowy Feliks” [“brilliante Feliks”]). In his compositional output, he took inspiration from the style brillante and the early works of Chopin; Ostrowski’s polonaises refer to the style of M.K. Oginski. Only 2 polonaises have been preserved (A flat major and B flat major) andAdagio and Rondo Op. 11, and, according to I. Bełza, a private collection of Boris V. Ostrovsky, the composer’s grandson (Jagiellonian Library, National Library, Warsaw, Saltykov-Shchedrin Library in Saint Petersburg). The mazurkas, nocturnes and Grande Sonate mentioned by Belza are unknown.

Literature: F. Klukowski Nowe dzieło muzyczne, “Gazeta Korespondenta Warszawskiego i Zagranicznego” 1821 No. 202; papers and short articles in journals: “Kurier Warszawski” 1822 No. 107 i 147 (supplement), 1823 No. 90 and 115 and also 1836 No. 106, “Monitor Warszawski” 1827 No. 25, “Ruch Muzyczny” 1860 No. 47 (obituary); I. Bełza Istorija polskoj muzykalnoj kultury, Vol. 2, Moscow 1957; I. Bełza Feliks Ostrowski, published in Między oświeceniem i romantyzmem, Krakow 1961; K. Koźmian Pamiętniki, Vol. 1, Wrocław-Warsaw 1972; I. Bełza Zapomniany polski kompozytor – Feliks Ostrowski, published in Portrety romantyków, Warsaw 1974; M. Demska-Trębaczowa Feliks brylantowy, published in Sławni, znani, zapomniani. Szkice o muzykach Lubelszczyzny, Lublin 1983.