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The surely inauthentic title "Souvenir de la Pologne" added in EE is not an isolated instance for Chopin's works published by Wessel & Co. The same title was also given to other opuses of the Mazurkas; similarly, the consecutive opuses of the Nocturnes were also given individual titles such as "Murmures de la Seine" (Op. 9), "Les Zéphirs" (Op. 15), "Les Plaintives" (Op. 27), etc. Chopin did not approve of the pretentious titles invented by Wessel and repeatedly made his disapproval known to his English editor. This is how he wrote about it in a letter to Julian Fontana of 9 Oct. 1841: "Now about Wessel: he is a windbag and a cheat. [...] if he has lost on my compositions, it is doubtless because of the silly titles which he has given them without my consent and in spite of the strong objection several times expressed by Mr. Stapleton; [...] if I were to listen to my feelings, I would never send him anything more after those titles".
As a result of replacing the individual title page with a collective one, the authentic dedication was omitted from EE2. It was added again in EE3 above the 1st page of the musical text.
Compare the passage in the sources »
category imprint: Differences between sources
issues: EE revisions, Dedications
notation: Verbal indications
