Editions of Chopin’s Works in the Nineteenth Century

This book presents the editions of Chopin’s works as cultural texts and gives account of the main events in their reception history. Based on a new typology and an overview of copyright and economics, 140 editions evidence a dominance of a few popular works and genres (nocturnes, mazurkas, waltzes) and two distinctive tendencies in editing: academic (historical-monumental) and popular (salon & entertainment music). Four case studies research real-life typology, reprints, edition filiation, and the use of compositional sources. The author addresses edition aesthetics, from musical work ontology through national aspects of reception and recontextualisation strategies to the role of women in Chopin editing and axiological aspects of editions. The appendix includes forewords to major Chopin editions.

Wojciech Bo?kowski specialises in performance and reception studies. He holds a PhD in musicology with a dissertation on editions of Chopin’s works in C19. He has also written on computer-assisted performance analysis, historical pianos, and Chopin’s food and drink.