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The1
stCompetition.TheDifficultBeginnings
29
intheirdecisionsfromwhatwaspredictedandexpectedbyboththepressand
theaudience27.
ThejudgmentofStanisławNiewiadomski(1859–1936),pupilofKarol
Mikuli,writingfor“Warszawianka”,wasmuchharsher:
LastSunday[on16thJanuary1927]ameetingofthe[organisational]Committee
washeld,towhichpressrepresentativeswereinvitedinordertoobligatethem
tosupportthecommitteeappropriatelyandnottopassanyjudgmentsbeforethe
juryisreadywithitsowndecisions.
Thisreductionofartcriticismtotheroleofmerereporterswasneitherpar-
ticularlyastutenorespeciallypolite.[ś]Thedemandthata[music]criticand
journaliststaysilentforthewholeweekorwriteonlywhatwouldbetotheliking
ofthejuryisquitenaïve,especiallyifweconsiderthecommittee’sjustification.
“Itisourwishthatthepressshouldnotinfluencethejury,”Iwasinstructedbythe
honourablepresident.Thatwastheonlyreasonforcallingusthere.
Onecannothelpconcludingthatthereareseriousfearsthatthejurymem-
bers,oppressedbythesheerscaleoftheproject,anduncertainastotheiralready
mentionedexpertiseandtheirperseveranceinlistening[totheauditions],will
apparentlyresorttostudyingtheopinionsofjournalistsśIfthisisindeedthecase,
thecommitteeshouldissueappropriateregulationsforthejurymembers,inwhich
oneofthemainarticleswouldconcernabanonreadingdailynewspapers.Asfor
thecritics,thecommitteehasnorighttoaddressthemwithanydemandsbecause
ithasnosupervisoryauthorityoverthem28.
Thepoorlyconcealedrageofthisexperiencedmusicianandcriticisquite
understandable,sincetheorganisationalcommittee’sbanonpressevalua-
tionsimposedadistincthierarchyonWarsaw’smusiccirclesinthecontext
oftheCompetition.Therighttoassessperformanceswasgivenonlytothose
representativesofthemusicworldwhohappenedtobepartofthejuryorthe
committee.Alltheothersweretosatisfythemselveswithtakingtheminutes
oftheCompetitionproceedings,asiftheiraestheticjudgmentscouldaffect
theworkofthejurybytheirincompetentoramateurishcharacter.Butaffect
inwhatway,andwhyshouldtheybeconsideredinappropriate?Thisuncere-
moniousbidforsilencingthepresscanperhapsbeunderstoodasasymptom
oftheorganisers’fearofresponsibility,whichthejurorswerenowtoaccept
forthefirsttime.AdamWieniawski(1879–1950),“Rzeczpospolita”daily’s
musicreviewer,wasalsoindignantovertheproposedban:
ThecompetitiondidnotreceiveproperGpublicity’;thejurywasputtogether
ratheratrandom,anduntiltheverylastmomentvariousmovesweremadewhich
wouldbecalledGblunders’intheinternationaljournalese.WhatIspecificallymean
27Ibid.,p.74.
28S.Niewiadomski,Konkursszopenowski[TheChopinCompetition],“Warszawianka”
1927,No.17,p.4.
