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PawełMajewski
Introduction
I.HowtoWritetheStoryoftheChopinCompetition
Theperson,lifeandworkofFryderykChopinhavebeenstudied,analysed
anddescribedintheminutestdetail.Wecansafelyassumethattheedifice
ofChopinstudiesisnowcompleteanditwillnotbeeasytoaddasmuch
asonemoreusefulelementtoitsstructureinthe21stcentury.
Thisiswhywhileworkingonthebookthatyouarenowholdinginyour
handswehavenottriedtoexploreChopin’sbiographyandhisoeuvre.We
haveacceptedtheexistingknowledgeinthesefields,accumulatedovermore
thanoneandahalfcenturies,asgivenandmostlyundisputed,thoughwe
areawareoftheongoingcontroversiesanddebatesconcerningsomespecific
questions.Ourbook,ratherthantoChopinandhisoutputofmusic,isded-
icatedtotheInternationalPianoCompetitionofhisname,whichhasbeen
heldinWarsawfornearlyacentury.
Themainaimofourpublicationisthereforetopresentadetailed
accountofthedebatesandcontroversiesthathaveaccompaniedthesucces-
siveeditionsoftheChopinCompetition(abbreviatedhereafterasChC)and
itsothernon-musicalaspects,onthebasisofpressreportsaswellassurviving
archivematerials,mostofwhichhavenotbeenasubjectofresearchsofar.
Sincethesourceswerefertoarenearlyunknownandforgotten,ourbook
containsnumerouslongquotations.Itisnot,however,amereanthology.It
alsocomprisestheresultsofourattemptstointerpretthosequotationsand
thuspresentthepublicdiscourserelatedtotheCompetition,aswellasour
ownmulti-layeredsense-formingnarration.Ourbookthereforedoesnot
aspiretobecomeadetailedreportfromeachoftheChCeditions.
OurdiscussionoftheCompetitionhistoryisgovernedbyafewgeneral
methodologicalprinciples.Firstofall,wehaveassumedthatpassingaes-
theticjudgmentsonspecificChopinperformancesisnotourpigeon.Should
ourreaderswishtolearnwhichChCeditionrepresentedthehighestper-