Op. 11, Concerto in E minor, Mvt I

GE1 encompassed the Concerto in a version for solo piano and orchestral parts sold optionally. The present characterization, as well as all the detailed notes, pertain, with only few exceptions, to the version for one piano, consisting of the solo piano part and the authentic piano reductions of the orchestra sections (Tutti).

GE1 is most probably based on a proof copy of FE, which does not take into consideration the final corrections made by Chopin. It contains traces of a very detailed revision by the publisher, in most cases carried out only in the course of printing, as well as a number of errors. Some of the introduced changes (e. g. first movement, bar 391, 393, 416, 453; third movement, bar 139) have been heretofore regarded as authentic, since they occur in the overwhelming majority of the later collected editions. Nonetheless, the absence of a distinct confirmation of Chopin’s participation in the proofreading of GE1 renders the authenticity of this edition extremely doubtful, as evidenced by the following arguments:

• the correspondence between the publishers, Schlesinger in Paris and Kistner in Leipzig, demonstrates that Chopin established direct contact only with the Parisian publisher, who then offered the purchased compositions to his colleague in Leipzig; the introduction of improvements in GE1 while bypassing the main Parisian contracting party would have been an unwise move for a composer starting to issue his works in France;
• apart from changes which could be regarded as made by Chopin, GE1 contains also others, evidently mistaken, which cannot be in any way ascribed to Chopin (e. g. bar 190, 632).

A similar conclusion follows from the analysis of GE1 in the Etudes Op. 10.

Above all, the revisions introduced in GE1 cover additions of the overlooked accidentals, patent in the vast majority of cases. All defects of this kind mentioned in the characterization of FE were corrected as well as, e.g. in bar 12, 139. Cautionary accidentals were also introduced, e.g. in bar 14, 96, 211, 404. In addition:

• slurs were added and modified, e.g. in bar 8, 14-16, 153;
• small articulation markings were added (dots, accents, etc.), e.g. in bar 20;
• authentic wedges were changed to staccato dots, e.g. in bar 29;
• some pitch mistakes were corrected, e.g. in bar 308, 326, 364, 378;
• mistakes and inaccuracies in rhythmic notation were corrected, e.g. in bars 68 and 72 or 141 (yet the most probably erroneous beams in bar 149 were left unchanged), 162;
• allegedly missing rests were added, e.g. in bar 76;
• double bar lines were introduced where key signature was changed, i.e. in bars 221-222 and 355-356;
• form of grace notes was changed, e.g. from crotchets to slashed quavers in bar 250, from slashed quavers to non-slashed ones in bars 255 and 257;
• pedalling marks were added, e.g. in bars 394-395.

At the same time, oversights and mistakes were not avoided, e.g. the mistakes in bar 483, 484 were left uncorrected, whereas a cautionary , which should be in bar 41, was added in bar 42.

GE1 includes also a number of common mistakes concerning:

• rhythm, e.g. the extending dot in bar 182 was overlooked;
• pitch, e.g. e² instead of f² in bar 223, A instead of c in bar 251, f¹ instead of d¹ in bar 300, d³ instead of f³ in bar 302;
• various oversights, e.g. three  marks in bars 299-301 were overlooked (and a few other elements in those bars), quaver flag in bar 319,  in bar 327.

The additions performed in pencil visible in the presented copy are of no source value.