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The1
stCompetition.TheDifficultBeginnings
23
aftermorethanahundredyearsofbeingpartitionedbetweenRussia,Prus-
sia(laterGermany),andAustria-Hungary.Theothersourceofincomewas
self-financing.Forinstance,WarsawPhilharmonicwas,onalldaysapart
fromtheFridayandSundayconcerts,acinemahall,andearnedinthis
wayforthemaintenanceofboththebuildingandtheorchestra.Itsvarious
smallerhallsplayedtheroleofatheatreroom,amusicschool,andeven
adanceclub11.
Theinterwarperiodwasahardtimeforphilharmonicmusic,notonly
foreconomicreasons.ThelateRomanticcultofthegenius-composersand
virtuosoperformerswasgone,anditssecondaryrevivalthroughtheagency
ofmassculturehadnotyetbegun.Mahler’sdeathin1911markedthesym-
bolicendoftheRomanticgiants.Theyearsfollowing1918witnessedarapid
spreadofpopularmusic.Themusicrecordindustryandtheradiodeveloped
veryfast,andthesenoveltiesforcedboththecomposersandtheperformers
tochangetheirbelleépoquehabitswhichdidnotcomeeasy.Finally,the
internallogicoftheevolutionofmusicalformsledtoanexhaustionofthe
Romanticparadigm,whichruledinmusicforalongertimethaninany
otherart(itseventualdemiseonlycamewiththedeathofRichardStrauss
in1947,thoughithadbeenpushedoutsidethemainstreamofmusicallife
manyyearsearlier).Thefirstavant-gardehadalreadyenteredthescene,and
nowfunctionedsidebysidewithneo-Romanticism.Ahundredyearslater
wecanhardlyrealisehowfar-reachingandviolentthesetransformations
reallywere.
Inthefaceofthesechanges,musicperformancepracticeasdeveloped
acenturyearlierintheheydayofthefirststageofmusicalRomanticism
becameproblematic,notonlybecause(astheCompetitionfoundersrightly
observed)theprinciplesofperformancehadbeenblurredandthemodels
setbycomposersforgotten,butalsobecauseofthedoubtthathadarisen
(thoughwasnotopenlyexpressed)whethermusiccouldwithstandtherapid
civilizationalchangeatallandstillplaythesamesocialfunctions,assigned
toitinthepreviouscenturybyRomanticideologies.Insuchacontext,
Żurawlew’sinitiativeappearsasevenmoredaring.
Despitealltheunfavourablecircumstances,thefirstChopinCompe-
titionwassolemnlyinauguratedon23rdJanuary1927atWarsawPhilhar-
monic.“KurierWarszawski”[“TheWarsawCourier”]reportedasearly
as14thJanuary:
Onthe11thofthismonthameetingoftheorganisationcommitteeoftheFry-
derykChopininternationalcompetitionforpianistswasheld.Thecompetition
hasbeenorganisedbytheChopinhigherschoolinWarsaw[ś]Atthemeeting,
11J.Waldorff,Wielkagra,op.cit.,pp.62,80–81.