He wrote many popular art songs and operas, including The Haunted Manor and Halka, and his music is filled with patriotic folk themes of the peoples of the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (mainly Poles, Lithuanians and Belarusians).

[3] In 1840, he married Aleksandra Mueller, with whom he had ten children,[13] and settled down in Vilnius, taking up the position of organist at the Church of St.

[14] In 1854, he established St Cecilia's Society with the assistance of Achilles Bonoldi, its amateur members giving two public concerts twice a year.

[14] Owing to the composer's good relations with Warsaw's bourgeoisie and aristocracy, such as Józef Sikorski, editor-in-chief of the music magazine Ruch Muzyczny, Moniuszko's career started to gain momentum.

During the Warsaw period, he composed his most famous musical works – the operas The Countess, Verbum nobile, The Haunted Manor and Paria.

The premiere performance of the opera was delayed by the outbreak of the January Uprising of 1863 and ultimately took place on 28 September 1865 at the Grand Theatre in Warsaw.

[8] The songbook contained sets of songs intended "for everyday use", which turned Moniuszko into a figure loved and admired by masses of his compatriots.

[2] The songs remain popular to this day and include such titles as Prząśniczka, Krakowiak, Znasz-li ten kraj or Świtezianka.

[22] According to director Ilaira Lanzino, the composer had always been interested in people excluded from society, a point of view which back in Moniuszko's times was often interpreted as Poland's oppression by foreign powers.

[23] Moniuszko's opera style bears similarities to that of Daniel Auber and Gioachino Rossini, but with stronger emphasis on chorus and melodies inspired by Polish dances.