The IV International Chopin Piano Competition ( pl, IV Międzynarodowy Konkurs Pianistyczny im. Fryderyka Chopina) was held from 15 September to 15 October 1949 in Warsaw. The first competition after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, it was held in connection with the centenary of Chopin's death. Polish pianist

Halina Czerny-Stefańska Halina Czerny-Stefańska ( �xaˈlina t͡ʂɛrnɨ stɛˈfaj᷉ska31 December 19221 July 2001) was a Polish pianist. Life She studied piano under her father, Stanisław Szwarcenberg-Czerny, as well as with Alfred Cortot at the École Normale de ...

and Soviet pianist

Bella Davidovich Bella Mikhaylovna Davidovich (Бэлла Миха́йловна Давидо́вич; born July 16, 1928) is a Soviet-born American pianist. Biography Davidovich was born in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, into a Jewish family of musicians and began studyi ...

shared first place. Due to the wartime destruction of the National Philharmonic, the auditions were held at the Roma Theatre on Nowogrodzka Street.

Awards

The competition consisted of two elimination stages and a final with 18 pianists. For the first time, competitors performed a piano concerto in its entirety in the final, as opposed to just two movements. The following prizes were awarded: {, class="wikitable" ! colspan="2" , Prize ! colspan="2" , Winner , - ! rowspan="2" , 1st , ,

, , - , ,

, , - !2nd , ,

Barbara Hesse-Bukowska Barbara Stella Hesse-Bukowska (8 February 1930 – 9 December 2013) was a Polish pianist. Her family had a long-standing musical history, as her father was a violinist and conductor, her mother was a pianist and teacher, and her grandfather ...

, , - !3rd , , Waldemar Maciszewski , , - !4th , , , , - !5th , ,

Władysław Kędra Władysław Kędra (16 September 191826 September 1968) was a Polish pianist. Kędra was born in Łódź. He made his debut in 1933, performing Haydn's 11th Concerto and Camille Saint-Saëns's ''Rapsodie d'Auvergne''. He graduated from the Łó ...

, , - !6th , ,

Ryszard Bakst Ryszard Bakst (4 April 1926 – 25 March 1999) was a Polish pianist and distinguished piano teacher. Background Bakst was a descendant of the Russian artist Léon Bakst. His teachers were initially his mother and pianist Józef Turczyńsk ...

, , - !7th , ,

Yevgeny Malinin Yevgeny Malinin (8 November 19306 April 2001), PAU, was a Soviet and Russian pianist. Biography Malinin was born in Moscow. A disciple of Heinrich Neuhaus, he began his career while a student at the Moscow Conservatory. In 1949 he won (ex-a ...

, , - !8th , , , {{flag, Poland, 1928 , - !9th , {{Currency, 300,000, PLN , Tamara Gusiewa , {{flag, Soviet Union, 1936 , - !10th , {{Currency, 250,000, PLN ,

Victor Merzhanov Victor Karpovich Merzhanov (russian: Ви́ктор Ка́рпович Мержа́нов) (15 August 191920 December 2012) was a Russian pianist and People's Artist of the USSR (1990). Biography Merzhanov was born in Tambov and studied at Tam ...

, {{flag, Soviet Union, 1936 , - !11th , {{Currency, 200,000, PLN , Regina Smendzianka , {{flag, Poland, 1928 , - !12th , {{Currency, 150,000, PLN ,

Tadeusz Żmudziński Tadeusz Żmudziński (9 July 1924, in Chorzów – 17 October 1992, in Katowice) was a Polish pianist and educator. In 1946, Żmudziński graduated with highest honours from the University of Music in Katowice, where he studied under Prof. Wład ...

, {{flag, Poland, 1928 , - ! rowspan="5" , {{tooltip, HM, Honorable mentions , {{Currency, 50,000, PLN , Tony Vine Adnet , {{flag, Brazil, 1889 , - , {{Currency, 50,000, PLN , {{ill, Oriano de Almeida, pt , {{flag, Brazil, 1889 , - , {{Currency, 50,000, PLN , Carlos Rivero , {{flag, Mexico, 1934 , - , {{Currency, 50,000, PLN , Ludmila Sosina , {{flag, Soviet Union, 1936 , - , {{Currency, 50,000, PLN , Imre Szendrei , {{flag, Hungary, 1949 One special prize was awarded: {, class="wikitable" !Special prize ! colspan="2" , Winner , - , Best Performance of Mazurkas ,

, {{flag, Poland, 1928

Jury

The jury consisted of: {{div col, colwidth=18em * {{flagicon, Sweden Godfrid Boon * {{flagicon, Belgium {{ill, Emile Bosquet, nl * {{flagicon, France

Lucette Descaves Lucette Descaves (1 April 1906 – 15 April 1993) was a French pianist and teacher, whose pupils included Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Geneviève Joy, Brigitte Engerer, Pascal Rogé, and Katia and Marielle Labèque. Biography Born in Paris, daughter o ...

(substitute) * {{flagicon, Netherlands Sem Dresden * {{flagicon, Poland, 1928

Zbigniew Drzewiecki Zbigniew Drzewiecki (; 8 April 189011 April 1971) was a Polish pianist who was for most of his life a teacher of pianists. He was especially associated with the interpretation of Frédéric Chopin's works. His pupils include several famous pian ...

(chairman) * {{flagicon, Poland, 1928

Jan Ekier Jan Stanisław Ekier (29 August 1913 – 15 August 2014) was a Polish pianist and composer known for his authoritative edition of Chopin's music for the Chopin National Edition. Biography Ekier was born in Kraków, Poland. As a youth, he ...

* {{flagicon, Mexico, 1934

Blas Galindo Dimas Blas Galindo Dimas (February 3, 1910 – April 19, 1993) was a Mexican composer. Biography Born in San Gabriel, Jalisco, San Gabriel, Jalisco, Galindo studied intermittently from 1931 to 1944 at the National Conservatory of Music (Mexico), Nation ...

* {{flagicon, France

Lélia Gousseau Lélia Gousseau (11 February 1909 – 14 February 1997) was a 20th-century French classical pianist. Biography Born in Paris, the daughter of pianist Fanny d'Almeida (disciple of Elie Delaborde) and organist William Gousseau (1870-1939), maît ...

(substitute) * {{flagicon, England

Arthur Hedley Arthur Hedley (12 November 19058 November 1969) was a British musicologist, scholar and biographer of Polish- French composer Frédéric Chopin. Arthur Hedley was educated at Durham and at the Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (buildi ...

(vice-chairman) * {{flagicon, Hungary, 1949 {{ill, Hernádi Lajos, hu * {{flagicon, Switzerland

Franz Josef Hirt Franz Josef Hirt (7 February 1899 – 20 May 1985) was a Swiss classical pianist. Born in Lucerne, Hirt studied with Hans Huber, Ernst Levy, Egon Petri and Alfred Cortot. From 1930 he led a concert education class at the . For his commitment t ...

* {{flagicon, Poland, 1928

Jan Hoffman Jan Hoffman (11 June 1906 – 25 October 1995) was a Polish pianist and music educator. Biography Jan Hoffman was born in Kraków and studied with Józef Śliwiński and Wiktor Łabuński at the Conservatory of Music in Kraków, receiving a dip ...

* {{flagicon, Poland, 1928 {{ill, Roman Jasiński, pl, Roman Jasiński (pianista) * {{flagicon, Poland, 1928 Marcelina Kimonti-Jacynowa (substitute) * {{flagicon, France

Lazare Lévy Lazare Lévy Lazare Lévy, also hyphenated as Lazare-Lévy, (18 January 188220 September 1964) was an influential French pianist, organist, composer and pedagogue. As a virtuoso pianist he toured throughout Europe, in North Africa, Israel, the Sov ...

* {{flagicon, France

Marguerite Long Marguerite Marie-Charlotte Long (13 November 1874 – 13 February 1966) was a French pianist, pedagogue, lecturer, and an ambassador of French music. Life Early life: 1874–1900 Marguerite Long was born to Pierre Long and Anne Marie Antoin ...

(vice-chairwoman, after 1 October) * {{flagicon, Austria

Joseph Marx Joseph Rupert Rudolf Marx (11 May 1882 – 3 September 1964) was an Austrian composer, teacher and critic. Life and career Marx was born in Graz and pursued studies in philosophy, art history, German studies, and music at Graz University, earni ...

* {{flagicon, Czechoslovakia Frantisek Maxian (vice-chairman) * {{flagicon, Romania

Alfred Mendelssohn Alfred Mendelsohn (17 February 1910 – 9 May 1966) was a Romanian composer. Mendelsohn studied from 1927 to 1931 at the Music Academy in Vienna with Joseph Marx Joseph Rupert Rudolf Marx (11 May 1882 – 3 September 1964) was an Austrian comp ...

* {{flagicon, Bulgaria, 1946

Dimitar Nenov Dimitar Nenov ( bg, Димитър Ненов; December 19, 1901 in Razgrad – August 30, 1953 in Sofia) was a Bulgarian classical pianist, composer, music pedagogue and architect. Dimitar Nenov belongs to the Interwar period generation of Bulgar ...

* {{flagicon, Soviet Union, 1936

Lev Oborin Lev Nikolayevich Oborin (russian: Лев Николаевич Оборин, ''Lev Nikolaevič Oborin''; Moscow, Moscow, 5 January 1974) was a Soviet and Russian pianist, composer and pedagogue. He was the winner of the first International Chopin ...

(vice-chairman) ({{Gold1 I) * {{flagicon, Soviet Union, 1936 Pavel Serebryakov * {{flagicon, Poland, 1928 Stanisław Szpinalski ({{Silver2 I) * {{flagicon, Poland, 1928 {{ill, Henryk Sztompka, pl * {{flagicon, Brazil, 1889

Magda Tagliaferro Magdalena Maria Yvonne Tagliaferro (19 January 18939 September 1986) was a Brazilian-born pianist of French parentage. Magdalena Tagliaferro was born in Petrópolis, Brazil. Her father, who had studied piano with Raoul Pugno in Paris, was a voi ...

(vice-chairwoman) * {{flagicon, Poland, 1928 {{ill, Margerita Trombini-Kazuro, pl * {{flagicon, Poland, 1928

Bolesław Woytowicz Bolesław Woytowicz (5 December 189911 June 1980) was a Polish pianist and composer. Woytowicz was born in Dunaivtsi. In 1924 he was appointed a piano and music theory teacher in the Warsaw Conservatory, where he had been trained under Aleksander ...

* {{flagicon, Italy

Carlo Zecchi Carlo Zecchi (8 July 190331 August 1984) was an Italian pianist, music teacher and conductor. Zecchi was born in Rome. A pupil of F. Baiardi for piano and of L. Refice and A. Bustini for composition, he began his career as a concert pianist at o ...

* {{flagicon, Poland, 1928

Jerzy Żurawlew Jerzy Żurawlew (December 25, 1886October 3, 1980) was a Polish pianist, conductor, teacher, and founder of the International Chopin Piano Competition. Life Żurawlew was born at Rostov-on-Don in Russia in 1886. He studied with Aleksander Micha� ...

{{div col end During the first two rounds, blind auditions were held, with participants competing anonymously under numbers they had drawn, as the jury listened behind wooden shutters. This format was not repeated again in subsequent editions of the competition.

References

{{reflist

External links

* {{YouTube, title=Chopin Institute, custom=chopininstitute {{Chopin competition {{Authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:International Chopin Piano Competition 4 International Chopin Piano Competition 1949 in music 1949 in Poland 1940s in Warsaw

Awards

Jury

References

Further reading

External links