mUltimate Chopin

Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

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Issues : Cautionary accidentals

b. 229

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

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FE (→GE,EE) added an unobvious cautionary  to a in the 2nd crotchet. It suggests that it was Chopin who performed it, since a few other situations prove the composer's subconscious uncertainty as to the validity of a 3rd key signature , e.g. the mistake in b. 231.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Cautionary accidentals , Authentic corrections of FE

b. 230

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

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In A Chopin overlooked the  to the bottom note of the 1st L.H. octave (F). The accidental was added by FE (→GE,EE). In the R.H. part A includes a cautionary accidental only to e1. In the main text we also add naturals to c1 and c2; they were also added by GE and, gradually, by EE – to c1 in EE2 (→EE3), only to c2 in EE3.

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

issues: EE revisions , Accidentals in different octaves , Cautionary accidentals , FE revisions , Inaccuracies in A

b. 243

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

b with  in A (→FE→EE,GE)

b in GE1a

b without  suggested by the editors
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The version of GE1a is most probably a mistake by the engraver, although one cannot completely exclude a revision – the cautionary  to b, present in the remaining sources, is not indispensable here and could have been considered erroneous. The engraver or reviser of GE1a was similarly overly zealous in, e.g. b. 232.
In A there is no  raising e1 to e1 in this chord. It is almost certainly a mistake – cf. e1 in b. 240-241 – corrected by FE (→GE,EE). In the main text we omit the cautionary  to b, more justified in the original layout, in which the first 5 quavers in the previous bar – to b – are written down on the bottom stave.

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

issues: Errors in GE , Cautionary accidentals , Authentic corrections of FE , FE revisions