Wikipedia:Dispute resolution noticeboard/François Robere's proposal

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This builds off of Wikipedia:Dispute resolution noticeboard/Francis Schonken portion, so his rationale should apply for statements that are the same in both texts. Some of my changes are purely stylistic and might depend on article conventions, in which case I'm fine with either version; others I consider important additions that would significantly add to the informational value of the section.

This proposal would replace explanatory footnote #6 in Frédéric Chopin with the following section, to placed as the last subsection in Frédéric Chopin#Early life:

Affections[edit]

In early October 1829 Chopin wrote to Woyciechowski:[1][2]

Larghetto from Concerto Op. 21
Neal O'Doan [scores], Seattle Philharmonic, Nico Snel [scores]
Problems playing this file? See media help.

The "adagio" Chopin refers to is the second movement (Larghetto) of his Piano Concerto Op. 21, and the "little waltz" is his Op. posth. 70, No. 3, in D-flat major.[3] Chopin did not elaborate on his "ideal"; some translators, like Arthur Hedley (1962) and David Frick (2016), assume he was referring to a woman,[3][4] which conforms with biographers usually assuming that Konstancja Gładkowska was meant.[5][6] However, in other passages he is more suggestive: for example, in a letter to Woyciechowski written eleven months later - a few weeks before leaving Poland indefinitely - Chopin writes the following:[7][8]

Biographer Adam Zamoyski believes the passage is consistent with how feelings were expressed in 19th century Poland.[9] Biographer Alan Walker sees the passage as undeniably erotic, but believes it was the result of "psychological confusion" regarding his emotions towards Gładkowska - a "mental twist", in his words.[10] Music critic Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim [d] sees this interpretation as "hand-wringing", noting that Chopin's "only lasting [romantic] relationship was with the trouser-wearing, cigar-smoking George Sand", and even that was for the most part platonic.[11][12] According to a 2020 radio broadcast by Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen, the "ideal" which Chopin mentioned in his letter of 3 October 1829 is Woyciechowski himself, the true object of the composer's affection throughout the period.[4][13][14][15] Musicologist Antoni Pizà states that "clearly Chopin had homosexual desires."[16]

As for the other material currently in the "Sexuality" section of the Chopin article:

According to Pizá, "Chopin's historiography has been desexualized: from weak to fairy, from elf to hermaphrodite. But of course, de-sexualization is a form of sexualization: passing Chopin as 'asexual' redefines him as a harmless being, suitable for all publics... There is not doubt that the main way in which Chopin's figure has been neutralized is through his sexuality, either by covering it up or inventing it."[17]

  • In the same paragraph, add the following statement

According to musicologist Philip Brett and sociologist Elizabeth wood, "composers like Handel and Schubert, even the effeminized Chopin, are still assumed to be stable entities, and scholarship about them continues to assume the default position of sexual orientation... The literature about these bachelor composers reveals... a constant embarrassment or evasion [of the subject]". Brett and Wood suggest further research may shed light not only on the composers' histories, but their music.[18]

  • The Sand and Solange material would probably be better placed in the 4th and 5th subsections of Frédéric Chopin#Career (without prejudice to reworking the prose a bit).
  • The biographical part of the de Custine material rewritten and appended to the 3rd paragraph in the Frédéric Chopin#Paris section, and consideration given to mentioning de Custine's assault and Chopin's supposed awareness of it (per Pizá).


Citations

  1. ^ a b To Tytus Woyciechowski in Poturzyn (1829-10-03) at Fryderyk Chopin Institute website.
  2. ^ a b Voynich, Ethel (1931). Chopin's Letters. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, p. 69
  3. ^ a b Hedley, Arthur (1962). Selected Correspondence of Fryderyk Chopin. Heinemann, p. 34
  4. ^ a b Weber 2020.
  5. ^ Zamoyski 2010, pp. 50–52 (locs. 801–838).
  6. ^ Walker (2018). p. 108.
  7. ^ a b To Tytus Woyciechowski in Poturzyn (1830-09-04) at Fryderyk Chopin Institute website.
  8. ^ a b Voynich, Ethel (1931). Chopin's Letters. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, p. 102
  9. ^ Zamoyski 2010, locs. 850-86.
  10. ^ Walker (2018). pp. 109–110.
  11. ^ Walker (2018). p. 110.
  12. ^ da Fonseca-Wollheim, Corinna [d]. "An Ingenious Frédéric Chopin". The New York Times. 19 November 2018.
  13. ^ Oltermann, Philip and Walker, Shaun (25 November 2020). "Chopin's interest in men airbrushed from history, programme claims: Journalist says he has found overt homoeroticism in Polish composer’s letters" in The Guardian.
  14. ^ Picheta, Rob (29 November 2020). "Was Chopin gay? The awkward question in one of the EU's worst countries for LGBTQ rights" at CNN.
  15. ^ Chilton, Louis (30 November 2020). "Frédéric Chopin’s same-sex love letters covered up by biographers and archivists, claims new programme: Swiss radio documentary explored evidence of the great composer’s attraction to men" in The Independent.
  16. ^ Pizá 2010, p. 349.
  17. ^ Pizá 2010, p. 354.
  18. ^ Brett, Philip; Wood, Elizabeth; Thomas, Gary C. (2006). Queering the Pitch: The New Gay and Lesbian Musicology. Taylor & Francis. p. 375.

Bibliography


François Robere (talk) 21:12, 21 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

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