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French army was in Zalesye and the evidence of it was the picture of Albrekht Adam, made on June 15, 1812. We can’t see the new palace, that wasn’t finished in that time (because there was another view at the picture), but there are images of new stone mill and old wooden palace of count Fratsishak and the island in the pond. On the bank of pond (as researchers say) there are images of bathing Italian grenadiers.

The new palace of senator was built with very small amount of money - without rich architectural ornaments. The central part of it constitutes Doric portico with columns, with the small tower over it “where the clock with clock dials at four sides with placed”. The evidence of small resources for building of palace are the researches of archeologists. They state that flooring made of branches of trees was used as foundation to the walls of the palace. At the same time a stone mill and a chapel were built.

At the same time when building was started Oginski had founded the English park.

Comparing with 18 century, when the French fashion dominated in everything, the beginning of 19 century brought the influence of English romanticism - the governess of Oginski’s daughter Amelia was English but not French.

There were a zoo in the new park (with fallow-deer and other animals) and so-called “outdoor zoo” with paths, small bridges on the river Babrynka and new-built stone pergola in Greek-Roman and Chinese style (the first was called “Amelia’s pergola “)

June 23 - Alexander I signs an edict about payment of all debts to Oginski from the state treasury. Senator meets the Emperor once more (1814), goes to Warsaw to his coronation (November 1815), works in 5^th department of the Senate (with the affairs concerning the territory of former Recpospalitaja), but feeling the coldness in the relations with Alexander he slowly leaves the politics. He begins to spend more time in Zalesye, and as he writes in his memoirs: My age and state of health require to leave the state affairs - and to look for peaceful rest and silence in my house. The impetuous life giving the hope that dreams can come true with vague remembering, often made me happy because I was concerned with the affairs of my brothers and my Motherland.

Probably now duke Michal at the age of 50, with his wife and children near him, gets satisfaction from managing the economy of the manor and the park. Now he creates his “private state” - his family and his manor, and as a writer he comes back to the past and works at the memoirs. He is proud of his green-house (“... my green-house is wonderful, and even if it were in St. Petersburg they would be proud of it”). While abroad he writes to the house-keeper to consult the horticulturist from Vilna Yuzaf Strumila about cultivating flowers that wants to see it in his park. The second consultant was one of the outstanding botanists of that period, professor of Vilna University Stanislav Yundil (he founded Vilna botanical gardens). Some of the plants were brought to the park in Zalesye from Schors Park in the manor of Khrabtovich.

1817 - he publishes two collections in Vilna (with romances in the first one and polonaises in the second) with his own money. Among these polonaises is the well known nowadays “la-minor” (“Farewell to Motherland”). Money collected from the sales he gives to the Charity society (he was the president of it’s first department), which was involved in aid to the poor. Oginski also builds the house for the poor in Vilna with his own money. As the honorable friend of the scientific board of Vilna University he gifted them a microscope and also gave part of his library to the district school in Molodechno, also built with his money.

The former pupil of this school Yan Maschinsky helped the duke in writing his personal correspondence in Zalesye (than he was state counselor and became a well-known doctor).

1819 - Oginski hires a new secretary, a 19-year old Leonard Khodka; with him the senator goes to Kiev and than to St. Petersburg. The young man helps Oginski to work with his correspondence and with “Memoirs”

Ë.Õîäçüêà

L. Khodka was born on November 6, 1800 in the manor Aborki in Ashmyany district, in the family of Ludvic Khodka (deputy of the city council, participant of the uprising in 1794) and Valeria from Dederky. He studied in college in Borisov, than in Molodechno where he met Tamash Zan. Than he studied history from Jahim Level in Vilna University.

In Zalesye duke Michal started to work on “Letters about Music”, which were left in manuscript in French and were published (translated to Polish) in1879.

In “Letters...” the author tells to “ a friend from Florence” about music, musicians, and musical instruments of Europe of 18-19 centuries.

As S. Nemagai, who studied this question writes, that in “Letters...” the author acts as a historian and musical critic. This work is the self-portrait of “Oginski as a musician”

If in “Memoirs” he is a historian, a politician and an eloquent literary man, in “Letters...” we can see still another “face” of duke Michal – a musical expert.

Evaluating himself as an amateur of music, who managed to “compose some small things” Oginski writes about his musical abilities - “...everything I can, is a good ear for music, deep feeling of harmony and taste, that I grew up in myself by listening and often practicing good music”. He writes about his compositions as - “...I made not so many changes to my first improvisation” and he is not” an educated musician”, but just an amateur “...who can be rewarded only for one thing - he experiences the musical impressions and thinks about music according to the feeling of his heart...” In “Letters...” he writes about the musical instruments - the piano, harp, violoncello, about the horn music and violin. He names his teachers - violinists - in Poland, there was violinist who learned to play himself Yarnovik, than it was Vioti (in 1797), and in Florence (in 1808) - Campanili.

At that time Oginski was near-sighted and that “made reading notes without approaching the nose to music stand impossible, that made difficult to move the bow”, and Campanili convinced him to play... in glasses.

In Paris (1810) his teacher was Baye and in St. Petersburg (1811) - Lyafon.

Five teachers from Europe - that’s not so few for the “amateur musician”...

Evaluating N. Paganini (1782-1840) - virtuoso-violinist of that time (Oginski listened to him in 1827-1828 in Florence, Luca and Livorno), the author of “Letters...” writes: “...I can’t say that Paganini isn’t a great artist, ...just looking at his compositions. The quarters are artistic, as well as complicated.

Í. Ïàãàí³í³

But the way of performing doesn’t satisfy the old-fashioned author “...I’d rather not come back to listen to him,... he shows more charlatanism than talent in everything he plays.”

Ô. Ãàéäí

Oginski writes about the creative work of J. Rasini (1792-1868), about meeting with F.Gaidn (1732-1809) in Vienna, in the salon of count Estergazi and about the fact he saw Mozart (1756-1791) - “...only once and occasionally, I saw Mozart 3 years before his death. More than an hour I was in the same society with him... I can’t believe, that I was near a person so prominent, with whom I was craving to get acquainted for a long time. He left the salon..., and I left without pleasure of even a minute talk”.

Â.À. Ìîöàðò

Telling about the piano, Oginski mentions his teachers of this instrument - Klementi and Adam, writes about the musicians Filde and Shteilbeltse (he heard them in St. Petersburg), about the passion to improvisations of amateur pianist prince Ludvik Ferdinand and about Polish woman pianist and composer (his friend) Maria Shimanovskaya. Oginski hadn’t heard the music of Shopin.

Ì. Øûìàíî¢ñêàÿ

The final variant of “Letters about music” was written in Florence in 1828.

On one of the manuscript papers (is kept in Yagellon library in Krakaw) Oginski made a sign September 25 1828, for the daughter Amelia. In this way he celebrated his 63 anniversary... But we’ll come back to Zalesye, where Oginski began to write his “Letters about music” in 1819.

Approximately at that time (1820) the library or cabinet of Oginski was depicted, and we’ll make quotations from that depictions, to imagine where he worked on his musical and literary works:”...parquet floor from ash-tree, white ceiling,...five windows,... white cotton curtains, stove with white tiles and cast-iron doors. Furniture in the library: clavichord (the piano of that time) made from red wood,...billiard with....on 6 legs, covered with green broadcloth. Six armchairs of red wood. Bookshelves of red wood, one big bookcase of birch, four bookcases of ash-tree.”

Êàá³íåò Àã³íñêàãà. Ðýêàíñòðóêöûÿ, àðõ. Ë. ²âàíîâàé

1821 - the comic opera “Reapers or “dazhynki” (final stubble) in Zalesye” was composed, music by V.Kazlovsky, libretto by Yuzaf Lubensky the nephew of M. Oginski (son of Felix Lubenski).

The text and notes of the opera unfortunately are not found yet. The data about it was found by the ambassador of the Republic of Belarus in the United Kingdom - Vladimir Schastny, who was born in Smarhon region. The record of opera was published in Paris in 1835, in the magazine “La Poloqnie historiqie, litteraire, monumentale et pittoresque”, the publisher of it was L. Khodka.

July 1822 - in that time the student of Vilna University Alexander Khodka, 19 years old, a relative of Leonard Khodka visited Zalesye. (Alexander was a friend of A. Mitskevich and was a member of secret society of philamats and philarets, he knew A.Adynets and I.Dameika). Walking around the manor and park, Alexander was so impressed by its beauty, that he composed the poem “Zalesye”...in a few hours.

À. Õîäçüêà. Ïàðòðýò êàí. XIX ñò.

Later this poem will be published by L. Khodka in Polish language in Paris, in 1837 in the magazine “La Poloqne historiqne…” in the 1st volume. Nowadays (in the magazine “Spadchyna” 3/1997) its by the line translation to Belarussian language by V.Kapnin was published. The text of the poem was found by T. Klyaschonok (Smarhon).

Already at that times the guests of duke Oginski gave another name to his manor in Zalesye - Northern Athens and student Alexander in his poem expressively depicts what he has seen. From his story (which is like a “poetical inventory” for the researchers) we can find out about the Swan Island, about the Chinese pergola, Amelia’s pergola, Emma’s flowerbed, about the waterfall, the grotto, beiges on the river Babrynka, and the most important - about the Belvedere.

Thanks to the poem, last year the small discovery was made - reading the lines of the poem (and reconstructing the poet’s route) researchers of Zalesye found the name of the small hill in the park - in the times of Oginski it was called Belvedere (from Italian BELVEDERE - beautiful scenery), they supposed that there was a white wooden pergola on Belvedere. (In 1874 Genrikh Shliman (1822-1890) found the famous Troya led by Gomer’s poem “Iliada”. Like Shliman’s discovery the unknown Belvedere was found following the poem of A. Khodka in former “Northern Athens” of Oginski, in 1999).

A. Khodka tells about the memorial stones in his work. One of them the owner of Zalesye as a participant of the uprising in 1794 put in honour of T. Kosciuszko uprisers with the inscription “CIENIOM KOSCIUSZKI”. The second stone with the inscription “INSTITVTORI SUO JOAN. ROLAY GRATUS DICIPULUS M. O. MDCCCXXII” (“To the teacher J. Ralei - from grateful student M.A. 1822”) was dedicated by the “student Michal” (who was 57 at that times) to the teacher J. Ralei.

Êàìåíü Êàñüöþøê³ (çëåâà); êàìåíü Æàíó Ðàëåþ

In 1995, August 2 (Ilya’s day), this stone was found by the students of a local lore, teachers Kazlovskie (Victor Filipovich and Tamara Georgievna) and pupils Lesha and Olga Lis. And in two years (on May 2), students from Vitebsk, doctors, teachers and pupils from Zalesye and Smarhon opened this stone and sang a hymn in the honour of Oginski.

We can see how the Northern Athens in Zalesye looked like looking at the picture of L. Khodka, which was made also in 1822.

Ë. Õîäçüêà. Çàëåñüñå, 1822 ã.

Beside the picture Khodka also made a map of Zalesye manor. As Mr. Schasny said he saw it in London, in the rare bookshop.

The picture is made from the side of pond (maybe the artist was sitting in a boat), where we can see a bridge to Swan Island, a brewery on the left side, and a mill, than behind the fence is a hothouse of glass, than the greenhouse, the palace and the chapel. Looking at the image of the manor in 1822, one can understand why the poem of Khodka starts with the lines “...I’d leave Zalesye to my grandchildren/ But, with feeling of the spiritual fire rising in my chest/ Here! I’ll invite all the artists! Here, poets run! “

The former music teacher of Oginski Osip Kazlovski was the guest in his manor that year. He was the director of the orchestras of the Emperor’s theatres, a teacher, and a manager of tsar musical library.

̳õàë Êëåàôàñ Àã³íñê³ ¢ ñòðî³ äëÿ ïàëÿâàíüíÿ (ïðàêë. 20-å ãàäû Õ²Õ ñò.)

As a composer he is known for a great variety of works (operas, religious messes, vocal polonaises and songs) among which was the polonaise “Sound the Thunder of Victory”, which was the official hymn of Russian Empire up to 1833.

After the insult (in 1821) Kazlovski left all his positions. Coming back home to his native town Propoisk (now Slavgorod, Mogilev region), he stayed for some time at his former pupil’s place- in Zalesye.

Oginski’s guests after short rides on britzkas or horse rides to the river Vilia used to gather together in one of the salons where musical evenings were held. The quartet played and the first violin was played by the duke Michal (probably on the violin made in London in 1791), the second violin was played by well-known at that time in Vilna Spanish musician R.Escudera (he had a pension from duke), count V.Kazlovski played the violoncello, and Amelia Oginskaya played the piano (at that time she has already composed polonaises, she was a good artist and was fond of poetry). D. Paliani - the music teacher of Oginski’s daughters sang arias or recitatives from operas in Italian, accompanied by piano. Probably Oginski’s daughters Emma and Ida joined him in singing.

The “Zalesye quartet” probably played popular in that times compositions of Gaidn, Mozart, and it is evident that Oginski couldn’t but played his own compositions. He had composed 20 polonaises, 60 vocal and instrumental works in total. He is the author of famous “March of Polish Legions”. Andrzey Zaaluski in his book “The Times and Music of Michal Kleofas Oginski” proves that the music of modern hymn of Poland was composed by Oginski (but not I. Vybitski, who created only words) - in the part of the book named “Discussion”. Duke Michal composed mazurkas and he is also the author of the opera “Zelis and Valkur”, or Napoleon in Cairo” (as the musical researcher V. Skorobogatov claims the opera was composed in 1803 to be staged in St. Petersburg, but it wasn’t staged).

Among the guests of duke were lectors of Vilna University and one of the uprisers, officer Pavlovich, who saved Oginski during the battle with Russian army in 1794 near Vishneva.

The inventory of that times depicts the “Pink salon”, where probably the “musical evenings of Northern Athens took place” - “the parquet floor of ash-tree...In the center of the ceiling was the plaster rosette. The fireplace was white of glazed tile. In the salon there was a big sofa of poplar...; two tables of poplar covered with green broadcloth; one octahedral table on the curved legs; six arm-chairs...; 10 armchairs covered with red moiré. A big lamp on the bronze stand.... A small table of white marble...the plaster bust of Kosciuszko on the table. The piano of red wood, in Vienna style with monograms, big mirror in frame covered with gilding. Six painted landscaped in frames, the portrait of the duchess [Maria de Nero – author], the portrait of the Emperor Alexander I in frame”.

Gabriella Pusinina (1815-1969) in her memoirs in “Vilna and Lithuanian manors” remembers that there was a portrait gallery in one of the halls of Zalesye palace (counts, dukes, generals) and the wife of the senator told about them in French - “Ce sont mes amies” (“they are my friends”) Every year in Zalesye on Augur the peasants (and when her son Ireniush was baptized there were about 3 thousand of peasants).