Bronarski Ludwik, *13 IV 1890 Lviv, †9 XI 1975 Fribourg (Swiss), Polish musicologist and pianist. From 1909–13 he studied musicology with G. Adler, R. Wallaschek and M. Dietz at the University of Vienna, at the same time he studied counterpoint, composition, and instrumentation with H. Grädener and playing the piano with T. Leschetizky. In 1914 he settled in Fribourg and continued studies in musicology with P. Wagner. In 1919, on the basis of his dissertation Die Lieder der heiligen Hildegard, he received his doctoral degree. In 1926, he took his bachelor’s degree in law in Freiburg. In 1919–23 he collaborated with the editorial staff of Publications encyclopédiques sur la Pologne and actively worked as author and translator in the preparation of the collective work Pologne 1919–1939 (Neuchâtel). From 1945–67 he was professor of the piano class at the Freiburg Conservatory of Music. Bronarski gave lectures on Chopin and Paderewski in Bern, Freiburg, Geneva and Neuchâtel. In 1948 he became a corresponding member of the Faculty of Philosophy and a member of the Musicological Commission of the PAU; he was also a member of the TIFC, the ZKP and an honorary member of the Chopin-Gesellschaft in Vienna.
Bronarski’s works focus on Chopin’s oeuvre. They represent an important stage in the development of Chopinology. The most important of these is Harmonika Chopina, the only monograph so far which discusses harmonic function in Chopin’s work; the author presents the types of chords and their combinations in an encyclopaedic way. Bronarski formulated the notion of the so-called Chopin chord, which, according to him, was supposed to be a consonance peculiar to Chopin’s music; he considers harmonics in an abstract way, independently of the other coefficients of the work, in separation from the real sound. Harmonika Chopina, no longer sufficient from the point of view of modern science, represented, in its time, a significant step forward in the development of research on Chopin’s works, being at the same time a summary of a certain stage of this research.
Edition of Chopin’s works prepared by Bronarski has a practical character but is based on a much broader source base (autographs, copies, first editions) than previous editions, and includes his source commentary. It contains corrections to the composer’s text resulting from Bronarski’s theoretical assumptions (L. Thuille’s harmonic system), which are insufficient for the interpretation of music of the Romantic period.
Works:
Die Lieder der heiligen Hildegard, Zürich 1922
Die Quadripartita figura in der mittelalterlichen Musiktheorie, published in: Festschrift P. Wagner, Leipzig 1926
W sprawie wydania pośmiertnych dzieł F. Chopina, “Kwartalnik Muzyczny”, 1928, No. 1
Stosunek Schumanna do twórczości Chopina, “Kwartalnik Muzyczny”, 1929, No. 3, and No. 4
O kilku reminiscencjach u Chopina, “Kwartalnik Muzyczny”, 1929, No. 5
Pierwszy akord “Sonaty b-moll” Chopina, “Kwartalnik Muzyczny”, 1930, No. 8
Akord chopinowski, “Kwartalnik Muzyczny”, 1931, No. 12–13
Nowe chopiniana, “Kwartalnik Muzyczny”, 1931, No. 12–13
Kilka uwag o basso ostinato w ogóle, a u Chopina w szczególności, “Kwartalnik Muzyczny”, 1932, No. 16
W sprawie nowego wydania dzieł Chopina, “Muzyka Polska”, 1934, No. 3
Harmonika Chopina, Warsaw 1935
Le folklore dans la musique de Chopin, “Nova et Vetera”, 1940, No. 1–2
La derniére Mazourka de Chopin, “Vie-Art-Cité”, 1941, No. 7–8
Études sur Chopin, Lausanne, Vol. 1, 1944, 2nd edition , 1947, Vol. 2, 1946, 2nd edition, 1948
Chopin et l’Italie, Lausanne 1947
Dwa nieznane utwory Chopina, “Kwartalnik Muzyczny”, 1948, No. 21–22
Mazurek Chopina poświęcony E. Gaillard, “Kwartalnik Muzyczny”, 1948, No. 21–22
Sekstola w muzyce Chopina, “Kwartalnik Muzyczny”, 1949, No. 26–27
Kilka uwag o obiegniku w utworach Chopina, published in: Księga pamiątkowa ku czci profesora A. Chybińskiego, Kraków 1950
Chopin, Cherubini et le contrepoint, «Annales Chopin» II, 1957
Le Rondo de Chopin pour deux pianos, “Chopin-Jahrbtich”, Vienna 1963
Szkice chopinowskie, Kraków 1961 (a selection of works from Études sur Chopin and Chopin et l’Italie)
Les élèves de Chopin, «Annales Chopin» VI, 1961–64
Furthermore, numerous articles published, among others, in “Bulletin du Conservatoire de Fribourg”
Editing:
Chopin, F., Dzieła wszystkie (with Paderewski, J., & Tarczyński, J., then independently), 21 Volumes, Kraków 1949–61
