Osip Kozlovsky - Requiem in E-flat (1798): 1. Introit: Kyrie (Yesipov 1988)

Osip Kozlovsky - Requiem in E-flat (1798): 1. Introit: Kyrie. Performed by the Moscow Choir of Teachers, Moscow State Choir, USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Vladimir Yesipov. Recorded 1988 in Moscow, Russia. With Galina Simkina, Konstantin Lisovsky, Lidia Chernykh, Valentina Panina, Vladimir Matorin (soloists). Record label: Melodiya.
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From Wikipedia:
Józef Kozłowski (Russian: Osip Antonovich Kozlovsky; 1757/1759 - 11 March [O.S. 27 February] 1831) was a Russian composer of Polish origin. For the most part of his life Józef Kozłowski 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.
Sources vary as to Kozłowski's time and place of birth. The Polish academia traditionally considers him as a native of Warsaw, born on 10 September 1759. According to the Encyclopedia of Literature and Art of Belarus (1985), he was born in 1757 in Kozlovichi manor near Propoysk (modern Slawharad, Belarus). Author of encyclopedia entry V. D. Bobrovsky based his claim on the data from a metric book he found in Sokolovo, Slawharad District. An obituary in Northern Bee, presumably written by Thaddeus Bulgarin, described Kozłowski as a "descendant of Belarusian nobility."
Kozłowski's uncle, Vasily Fyodorovich Trutovsky (a famous hussler in his time), noticing his nephew's musical abilities, took him to study in St. John's Church in Warsaw, where the young musician received a musical education and underwent practice as a chanter, violinist and organist.
For many years Kozlowski was associated with the Polish magnate family of the Oginskys, where he taught music to his children: his eldest daughter Jozefa and his youngest son Michal Kleofas, the future author of the famous polonaise Pożegnanie Ojczyzny (Farewell to the Homeland). Kozlowski came to the Oginsky's at the age of 16, his pupil Cleophas was then 8 years old. The lessons lasted about 6 years: from 1773 to 1778. Michal Cleophas Oginsky himself mentioned the completion of the lessons in 1778 in his memoirs. Kozlowski's friendly contacts with Oginsky lasted all his life, more closely until 1786. Kozlowski taught the little Oginsky piano and later composition. Cleophas learned to play the violin from the famous violinist Ivan Mane Jarnowicz, at whose funeral in 1804 Kozlowski's Requiem was also performed. Together with his pupil, Kozlowski visited Slonim - the estate of Mikhail Kazimir Oginsky, Cleophas' uncle.
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 (and accredited lover of Catherine II) between 1774 and 1776. Impressed by the musical talent of Kozłowski, Potemkin introduced him to the Court. While in Russia, he maintained contacts with the St Petersburg Polish community. He probably took part in the musical evenings held at the St Petersburg residences of King Stanisław August Poniatowski, who commissioned from Kozłowski the Missa pro defunctis es-moll (1798), known as the Requiem.
In 1791 he wrote the music for the unofficial Russian national anthem of the late 18th and early 19th centuries Grom pobedy, razdavaysya! ("Let the thunder of victory rumble!"), 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, Kozłowski's opera (lyrical drama) Zelmira and Smelon, or the Capture of Izmail (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.

[@Mr.SLovesTheSacredHeartofJesus]

This is the first time I’ve heard of this composer. And that is a shame. Because this was intensely spiritual and moving. Very soul rendering and absolutely beautiful. Keep these posts coming.

[@gorgeousclassicalunknown]

Thank you for your kind words. This is exactly the purpose of this channel: being a reminder of countless forgotten classical gems. Many more will be published.