Feliks Janiewicz, in English often Felix Yaniewicz (Vilnius 1762 - 21 May 1848 Edinburgh) was a Polish composer and violinist in exile and one of the founders of the Edinburgh Festival.
He was born in Vilnius, Lithuania, 1762. At an early age, he was violinist at the Polish Royal Chapel, after which he travelled to Vienna about 1785 to see and listen to Haydn and Mozart, and spending three years in Italy. From Austria, he accompanied a Polish princess to Italy, to refine his artistic abilities with the Italian masters of that day, where he lived for three years. In Paris, he appeared at the Concerts Spirituels in December 1787, and was described in the Mercure de France as a pupil of the Italian violinist Giovanni Giornovich and was immediately recognised by the Parisians as an artist of high rank. There he was employed by the Duc d'Orléons and for a short time he enjoyed the pension of a musician on the establishment of Mlle. d'Orléans; on the outbreak of the revolution he left France for London in 1790 and did not reappear until his 1792 London debut at Salomon's Concerts among others.
During the subsequent years he expanded his violin performances and musical pursuits to Manchester, Liverpool, and Ireland. In Liverpool, he met Miss Breeze, whom he married in 1800.[1]
Janiewicz played at Corri's house in London in January 1792, and at Growetz's concert on 9 February, giving a benefit concert in the same month. He performed his violin concerto at the Saloman concerts of 17 February and 3 May (for Haydn's benefit). During several seasons Janiewicz played in London, visited the provinces and Ireland as a violinist, and conducted the subscription concerts in Manchester and Liverpool. He was one of the original members of the London Philharmonic Society, and in the first season (1813) was one of the leaders of the orchestra.
For a time he kept a music-warehouse at 25 Lord Street, Liverpool, and married Miss Breeze of that town in 1800. In 1815 he went to Edinburgh.
From 1815 he was resident in Edinburgh. He retired after 1829, and died at 84 Great King Street, Edinburgh, on 21 May 1848, aged 86.
and many adaptations.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.