Accents of Chopin anniversaries in territories annexed by Prussia

• Authors: Magdalena Piotrowska
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

PL

This article discusses the way in which the Chopin Year of 1910 was celebrated in Wielkopolska. It presents a script prepared in the nineteenth century and shows similarities with celebrations of Mickiewicz and other Polish heroes and artists. Invariably used in such commemorations was a “symbolic capital” that made it easier to create an intergenerational code, thereby disseminating knowledge of national culture and history. A significant role was played in 1910 by a centenary panel, which produced “Guidelines for popular Chopin celebrations” and also many occasional, popular materials. Chopin’s induction into the national pantheon involved the use of audio material (vocal and instrumental concerts), verbal material (articles, poems, lectures and brochures) and also a visual code (anniversary window stickers, tableaux vivants or tableaux illuminés). Illuminated pictures - recommended by a catalogue of slides produced in Poznań - stimulated the imagination of the masses and served as a guide through the composer’s life and work, and their impact was enhanced by a commentary. Most of the living pictures were probably inspired by Henryk Siemiradzki’s canvas Chopin grający na fortepianie w salonie księcia Radziwiłła [Chopin playing the piano in Prince Radziwill’s salon] and Józef Męcina Krzesz’s painting Ostatnie akordy Chopina [Chopin’s last chords]. This combination of codes made it possible to create a model adapted to the times and to the expectations of a mass audience. The Chopin anniversary, in which admiration was inseparably intertwined with manipulation, was a pretext for strengthening the national identity.

Keywords

PL

Fryderyk Chopin; anniversary; Wielkopolska; concerts; tableaux vivants; tableaux illuminés; mass audience

• Publisher: Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu
• Journal: Interdisciplinary Studies in Musicology
• Year: 2010
• Issue: 9
• Pages: 165-176

Dates

published

2018-10-17

Contributors

author

Magdalena Piotrowska

• doctor, lecturer in the School of Drama and Theatre of the Institute of Polish Philology of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. Author of several dozen scholarly articles and two books: Lubownicy sceny, czyli polskie teatry amatorskie w Wielkopolsce (1832-1875) [Lovers of the stage, or Polish amateur theatres in Wielkopolska (1832-1875)] (Poznań, 2000) and Zanim „te księgi zbłądziły pod strzechy”. Wielkopolska recepcja Mickiewicza [Before “these books ended up in the attic”. Mickiewicz reception in Wielkopolska] (Poznań, 2006), co-editor of the collective publication Mickiewicz daleki i bliski [Mickiewicz far and near] (Poznań, 2005). Her academic interests focus on theatre and literature of the nineteenth and early twentieth century, the reception o f Mickiewicz, amateur theatres, national anniversaries, pageantry and issues relating to the culture of Wielkopolska around the turn of the twentieth century.