ABSTRACT
It is hard to overestimate the importance of research into the chronology of the writing of a composer’s works. Establishing the correct chronology conditions our knowledge of his oeuvre as a whole, its development and deviations (slumps and peaks) and the presentation of these phenomena in a periodised form. The last half century has seen a noticeable increase in interest among Chopinologists in the problem of chronology in its more general aspect. In this chapter, the author outlines the essential issues relating to the chronology of Chopin’s works, in particular those questions which – to his mind – have yet to be thoroughly investigated. Further sources with the composer’s participation comprise his correspondence with publishers. Developing parallel to the use of material sources is research into stylistic criteria that may support a particular dating of a work’s composition.
