(1937). Among members of the jury (sitting on the left)
Heinrich Neuhaus,
Emil von Sauer,
Guido Agosti, and
Wilhelm Backhaus The competition was initiated by Polish pianist and pedagogue
Jerzy Żurawlew, who began seeking funds for a piano competition in 1925, influenced by
Aleksander Michałowski. Żurawlew recalled later: "Young people at that time, not long after the end of the
Great War, were taking a keen interest in sports. They were dyed-in-the-wool realists in their outlook on life. I would often hear that Chopin was excessively romantic, that he enervated the soul and weakened the psyche. Some went so far as to discourage the inclusion of Chopin as required repertoire in music schools. All that showed a fundamental lack of understanding, which I found very painful... As I watched young people's enthusiasm for sporting achievement, I finally hit upon a solution: a competition! Here was a format to bring tangible advantages to young performers of Chopin in the form of monetary prizes and an international performing career." Gathering funds for the competition proved to be a difficult task. As Żurawlew remembered later: "I met with utter incomprehension, indifference and even aversion. The opinion among musicians was unanimous: Chopin is so great that he can defend himself. At the Ministry, it was announced that there were no funds for it [...] and that the whole idea was unfeasible". In this difficult situation, help arrived from Henryk Rewkiewicz—a businessman, music lover, and board member of The Warsaw Music Society, who personally guaranteed to cover the entire deficit expected to arise from the first Competition. Many years later Jerzy Żurawlew wrote, "I was greatly helped by my friend Henryk Rewkiewicz, director of the Match Monopoly, who offered 15,000 złoty—a substantial sum at the time—for the Competition". Ultimately, things picked up with the election of Polish president
Ignacy Mościcki, who became the Chopin Competition's patron. Subsequent editions were organized in
1932 and
1937; the postwar fourth and fifth editions were held in
1949 and
1955. In 1957 the competition became one of the founding members of the
World Federation of International Music Competitions in Geneva. The prewar editions of the competition as well as three editions after
World War II (1955, 1960, 1965) were held in winter, close to Chopin's birthdate, 22 February. But because jurors and competitors often fell ill in this period, the organizers moved the competition to October, the month in which Chopin died. The
1980 edition was marked by controversy over the elimination of
Ivo Pogorelić, who was seen as one of the favourites, in the third round. This prompted juror
Martha Argerich to resign in protest, calling Pogorelić a "genius". Her action was supported by two other jurors, who called it "unthinkable that such an artist should not make it to the finals". Other judges spoke out about their disapproval of what they considered Pogorelić's eccentricities. After
Stanislav Bunin won in
1985, the jury withheld first prize in both
1990 and
1995. First prize was not awarded again until
Yundi Li won in
2000. Traditionally, on 17 October—the day of Chopin's death—a solemn mass is celebrated at the
Holy Cross Church in Warsaw, during which
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's
Requiem is performed in accordance with Chopin's wishes. In 2018, the Chopin Institute organized the inaugural
I International Chopin Competition on Period Instruments. The
XVIII International Chopin Piano Competition, originally scheduled for 2020, was postponed to 2021 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. == Jury ==