The idea of the competition is to perform Chopin’s music on instruments it was composed for. Pianists could choose the piano they played during the competition from among five instruments selected by the jury: the
Érard 1837 piano, which was chosen by 21 pianists, then followed by
Pleyel 1842 - 19 pianists, the 1826
Buchholtz copy - 13 pianists and the 1819
Graf copy - 3 pianists (both by
Paul McNulty),
John Broadwood & Sons - 10 pianists. Unlike the
International Chopin Piano Competition on contemporary instruments, the pianist could perform individual pieces on various instruments (maximum of three). ==References==