mUltimate Chopin

Op. 38, Ballade in F major

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : EE revisions

b. 118

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

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In A (→GC,FE) there is no  raising B to B. The inaccuracy was corrected in EE and GE.

category imprint: Editorial revisions

issues: EE revisions , Accidentals in different octaves , GE revisions , Omission of current key accidentals , Errors repeated in FE

b. 132-133

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

Fragment of slur in A (→GC)

Slurs in FE

Slurs in EE

No slurs in GE
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In both A (→GC) and EE, starting a new line resulted in inattention and leaving unfinished fragments of slurs (in A in bar 131, in EE in bar 132). FE completed the slurs in keeping with the analogous bars 125-127 and the R.H. slurs. This might have been done by the reviser or even the engraver. We give this undoubtedly right version in the main text. However, GE not only left bars 132-133 without slurs but omitted the second one in bar 131.

category imprint: Differences between sources; Editorial revisions; Source & stylistic information

issues: EE revisions , Inaccurate slurs in A , GE revisions , Uncertain slur continuation

b. 135

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

f2-f3 in A, FE1 & GC (contextual interpretation) and FE2 (→FE3) & GE

f2-f3 in EE
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In A, the third and fourth chords in the R.H. contain patent mistakes: there is no accidental before the third one, which results in a f2 simultaneously with f3, whereas before the fourth one Chopin wrote a  before the lowest note and a  lowering e3 to e3, which also results in a f2 simultaneously with f3. The sharp before the 4th chord, unnecessary in the current configuration, confirms the assumption resulting from a comparison with analogous bar 110 that Chopin meant f2-f3 in the third chord and f2-f3 in the fourth one. This version, without errors, is present in FE2 (→FE3), corrected by Chopin. In all sources based directly on A, the following inauthentic corrections were performed:

  • in GC, the copyist added a necessary  before the topmost note of the 4th chord (f3) while omitting the  before e3. In GE, the text was revised to the correct version of FE2;
  • in FE1, the  before the lowest note of the 4th chord was omitted, which, however, did not influence the correctness of the notation, which still contained two mistakes;
  • in EE, a  was added before the top note of the 3rd chord, which resulted in a harmonically reasonable version, yet certainly inauthentic in the face of the Chopinesque proofreading of FE2.  

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources; Editorial revisions

issues: EE revisions , Omissions to cancel alteration , GE revisions , Errors of A , Authentic corrections of FE , Errors repeated in FE

b. 136-137

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

Different slurs in A (→FE,GC→GE)

Slurs in bar 137 in EE

Slurs from bar 136 suggested by the editors
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In the first in a new line bar 137, A has slurs beginning from the first crotchet in both the R.H. and L.H. In bar 136, however, a slur is written, starting from the last quaver. We consider it as binding and interpret as a continuous slur after the analogous bars 111-112. Consequently, in the main text we give an analogous slur in the L.H. part as well. The slurs in A – from bar 136 in the R.H., and from bar 137 in the L.H. – are to be found in all remaining sources except for EE which has both slurs beginning in bar 137.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources; Editorial revisions

issues: EE revisions , Inaccurate slurs in A , Uncertain slur continuation

b. 142

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

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A (→GC,FE1→FE2) has no  raising c1 to c1 in the L.H. The patent Chopin's oversight was corrected in EE, FE3 and GE.
In A (→GC,FE), in the 2nd half of the bar there is an unnecessarily repeated  before c2. The accidental was necessary in the manuscripts because the line ends in the middle of the bar. It was omitted in EE and GE.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources; Editorial revisions

issues: EE revisions , Accidentals in different octaves , GE revisions , Cautionary accidentals , Omission of current key accidentals , FE revisions , Inaccuracies in A , Errors repeated in FE