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b. 8

composition: Op. 28 No. 22, Prelude in G minor

..

In the main text, we add cautionary flats to B-b. The accidentals were also added in GE and EE2.

category imprint: Differences between sources; Editorial revisions

issues: EE revisions , GE revisions

b. 8

composition: Op. 28 No. 22, Prelude in G minor

..

In GE the last L.H. octave is erroneously a quaver.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Errors in GE

b. 8

composition: Op. 28 No. 20, Prelude in C minor

g tied in b. 8 in AB

No tying in remaining sources

g tied in b. 8 & 12, possible variant

g tied in b. 12, another possible variant
..

The version in AB with the tied g is undoubtedly authentic and recorded a year after the publication of the Prelude, which makes it necessary to treat it as a regular variant. It remains an open question, however, whether in the version extended by bars 9-12 it can also be used in bar 12 or even only in bar 12:

  • a clear strengthening of the dynamics in bars 11-12 of the published version can be considered as an argument against the sustaining of g in b. 12 – after all, in AB there is no crescendo at this passage, so the sustaining can be associated with the   dynamics;
  • in the 13-bar version, the pitch-rhythmic text of b. 9-12 does not differ from b. 5-8, which may justify the use of a uniform version of b. 8 and 12 – both times tying the g (or both times repeating it, as in main text);
  • perhaps Chopin did not associate the tie with either the dynamic progression or the preceding phrase, but treated it as an element of the work's conclusion, which would suggest tying only in bar 12.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

b. 8-16

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

Long accents in A

4 short and 1 long accents in FE

Short accents in GE & EE
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In A, the 5 accents at the beginning of the R.H. quaver figures are of different length – the shortest are in b. 10 and 12, while the longest – in b. 14 and 16. However, all of them are provided with a slender shape, typical of long accents. As there is no reason to differentiate between the accents (and the last two are undoubtedly long), we interpret all of them as long; this is also the shape in which we give them in the main text. In FE, it is only the last accent that is clearly longer (in b. 16); in the remaining editions the marks were standardised as common short accents.

The issue of distinguishing between those two types of accents, not always possible to unequivocally decide, is present throughout the entire Ballade and is also to be found in many other works by Chopin.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Long accents , Inaccuracies in A

b. 8-19

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

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In A, it can be seen that Chopin initially wrote over the characteristic quaver figure slurs that would not go beyond the bar line; it was only later that he prolonged them, leading them to the minims at the beginning of the following bar. Such corrections are clear in b. 8-9, 10-11, 12-13 and 18-19.

category imprint: Corrections & alterations; Source & stylistic information

issues: Corrections in A