Zielinski, Jaroslaus
Musician. Born in 1847 in Poland. Veteran of the Polish insurrection against Russia in 1863, of the Civil War in United States from 1861 to 1865. Published many articles on music in Detroit, Buffalo and Los Angeles, Cal.From: "Who's Who in Polish America" by Rev. Francis Bolek, Editor-in-Chief; Harbinger House, New York, 1943
Zielinski, Jaroslaw
(March 31, 1847 - July 25, 1922)
The life and times of the famous musician Jaroslaw de Zielinski has become legendary. Unfortunately most of us have never heard of him and are totally unaware of his accomplishments even though he made Buffalo his home from 1888 to 1910.
Jaroslaw de Zielinski was born on March 31,1847 into a family of the Polish gentry at Lubycza, Królewska near Zamosc in the former Austrian partition of Poland. Zielinski graduated from secondary school in Lwów and studied music under F. Guniewicz and Karol Mikuli (1821- 1897). The latter was a pupil of Fryderyk Chopin in 1844. Zielinski continued his studies in Berlin and Vienna under Julius Schulhoff (who dedicated his first composition to Chopin) and in Milan under Cerutti (voice). In Vienna, Zielinski graduated from the Theresianum Imperial Military Institute.
As a mere boy, Zielinski fought, and was severely wounded, in the failed 1863 January Insurrection in the Russian partition of Poland. In 1864, this seasoned veteran left his beloved homeland and emigrated to the U.S. In Boston, MA, he enlisted on Sept. 13,1864 as a private (at the recorded age of 20) in the Union Army to fight in the Civil War. He served in Co. L, 4th Cavalry Regiment, MA. After the war, he was mustered out as a bugler on Nov. 14, 1865 at Richmond, VA.
After his discharge, Zielinski migrated to New York City where he taught music, voice, wrote music and gave concerts. Circa 1870 he was married and resided in Grand Rapids, MI, from 1871-1878. In 1878, he became director of the music department at Fairmount College in Mont Eagle, TN (a college for women which was closed just before WWI). In 1880, the Zielinskis are recorded on the census in Detroit, MI. They apparently had three boarders living with them which included two widows. In that city, Zielinski also taught music and voice and gave concerts.
In 1888, the Zielinskis migrated to Buffalo which served as their home base for 22 years. Even before arriving here he was known as Jaroslaw de Zielinski (the Latin preposition de perhaps used to emphasize his descent from the landed gentry). However, Zielinski did not reside in Buffalo's Polonia (on the East Side or in Black Rock) but rather downtown and later on the west side. He was certainly not ashamed of his heritage and it can only be assumed that he wished to have a little anonymity He was not too good for Polonia but perhaps too talented to not be shared with the entire community.
In 1889, he was living on Pearl Street and serving as music director at the Church of the Ascension (not a Roman Catholic parish but rather an Episcopal Church). His wife Marie found employment as a teacher at Public School #45.
On April 14, 1890, Zielinski gave a piano recital at The Sherwood on Seneca Street assisted by Mrs. E. E. Northrop, soprano and Mr. C. V. Slocum, tenor. He performed a variety of music composed by Jean Louis Nicode, Genari Karganoff, Edward Schuett, Franz Liszt, Cesar Cui and Emil Liebling. Slocum performed Zielinski's beautiful composition Oh, thou art like unto a flower.
Not to be outdone, his wife followed a few days later under the attractive billing of "Madame Marie de Zielinska" with two drawing-room readings of Frederick Mistral's Mireio on the 17th and Andrew Lang's Helen of Troy on the 24th, complete with incidental music, at the Chapter House on Johnson Park. Admission was 75 cents per reading.
By 1891, Zielinski was again self-employed as a music teacher. A newsbite from The Buffalo Courier from March 16 states, "The coterie of young women who meet with Dr. Wright's daughters each week listened to Mr. De Zielinski talk about Music and Musicians of the 16th and 17th centuries on Friday last."
In 1893, pushing himself to accomplish more, Zielinski organized a music department at the University of Bailey Springs, AL. His time spent in Alabama inspired his collection entitled, Three Pictures from Alabama which included At the Spring, Polka (Sounds from the Ballroom) and Serenade (Gay Moonlight).
Zielinski also devoted much of his time closer to home in Olean. NY in the southtowns. In 1894, he became director of the Conservatory of Music there. Numerous news bites of his activities have been preserved in archived newspapers including a mention of a George Lull of Olean who travelled to Buffalo in November 1898 in order to participate in a piano recital given by Zielinski, who appears to have been very respected and admired in that community.
Circa 1897 Zielinski and his wife moved to 63 West Huron St., Buffalo. Not long afterwards they moved to what would be their last home in Buffalo at 762 Aubum Ave. Zielinski applied for his military pension on Oct. 18, 1897 and Mrs. Zielinska became a French teacher (she was of French extraction and born in Nova Scotia). Just as love is a mystery, where the couple initially met and fell in love also remains a mystery.
From 1897 to 1898, Zielinski served as chairman for the program committee of the New York Stale Music Teachers Association. An excellent paper delivered al their convention by Evelyn Hetcher prompted Zielinski to write a letter to her in order to give her an endorsement for her renowned Fletcher Music Method.
On July 1, 1898, at another convention in Lafayette, IN, Zielinski read his manuscript entitled Modern Russian Composers for the Pianoforte in which he discussed in detail the composers of some of the music he had performed in Buffalo.
On April 15, 1899, Zielinski gave a performance specializing in Scandinavian music at the Concert Hall at Main & Edward Sts. (Antoni de Kontski had performed there in 1888). A few others assisted him with the performance which was given to raise money in aid of the Scandinavian Church, Admission was a mere 50 cents which was sure to have been money well spent.
When author James Huneker was compiling his book entitled Chopin - The Man and His Music, published in 1905, he needed to discover the identity of a certain Countess Delphine Potocka (1805-1877). In 1899, he made an inquiry to none other than Buffalo's own Jaroslaw de Zielinski who was by then recognized throughout the world as an authority on Polish and Russian music and musicians. Zielinski answered his question completely. Of special interest was the last sentence of Zielinski's letter, "To Delphine, Countess Potocka, he [Chopin] dedicated the loveliest of his valses, op. 64, No. 1, so well transcribed by [Rafael] Joseffy into a study in thirds." Zielinski himself would later publish an article entitled Glimpses of Chopin and his Times.
We get a glimpse of Zielinski's life situation as recorded on the 1900 Federal Census for Buffalo. He had been married for 30 years but unfortunately the couple had no children. A boarder (later his foster daughter), Clara B. Clark (born 1862 in Minnesota, but both parents recorded as having been born in New York State), was residing with them and employed as a dramatic reader. Zielinski owned his own home but at 53 had not yet paid off the mortgage.
In 1902, Zielinski had his extensive manuscript The Poles in Music published in The Century Library of Music, New York, vol. 18, pp. 591-608. It is recommended reading for anyone interested in the subject.
We get another glimpse of Zielinski's situation on the 1905 New York State Census. He was then recorded as a naturalized citizen. Clara was employed as a teacher of elocution. Zielinski had hired a servant by the name of Miss Anna Collins (born in Ireland) and had taken on a boarder by the name of Nelson M. Rothfield, an attorney.
From 1907-1910, Zielinski gave piano lessons to Ernest Dainty (1891-1947), a pianist later praised for his interpretations of Chopin. Dainty would go on to become a well known composer and conductor in Toronto.
In 1910, Zielinski said farewell to Buffalo and migrated to Los Angeles where he resided at 1343 South Burlington Ave. He established the Zielinski Trio Club and gave a prominent place to American composers in his programs. He also served as head of a music school in Los Angeles. In 1920, he was recorded on the census as self employed, still working in his mid 70s.
Jaroslaw de Zielinski died on July 25,1922 at Santa Barbara, CA, with Clara dark by his side. His wife had predeceased him in 1915. He left instructions for his body to be cremated and the ashes to be strewn on the grave of his beloved wife at the Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles.
His library of published works on music was acquired by the Los Angeles Public Library which formed the core of its music collection. There is a huge depository of his papers and memorabilia located at the Immigration History Research Center, University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. We are very fortunate to have had a paper trail preserved for him concerning the life he lived in Buffalo. Jaroslaw de Zielinski was a man of the world when the world was a much larger place.
By: Keith Kaszubik, Am-Pol Eagle, April 10, 2008