mUltimate Chopin

Op. 38, Ballade in F major

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Inaccuracies in GC

b. 172

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

No slur in A (→FE,EE)

Slur in GC (literal reading→GE)

Slur in GC (contextual interpretation)
..

In the main text we give the ending of slur from the previous bar, resulting from the notation of GC and FE2 (→FE3), corrected by Chopin.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Errors in FE , Inaccuracies in GC

b. 173

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

Slurs from 2nd quaver in A (→FE)

Slurs from 1st quaver in GC (→GE)

No slurs in EE
..

Characteristic of Gutmann, written with elan, the L.H. slurs in GC (→GE) are certainly inaccurate. EE overlooked both slurs.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: EE inaccuracies , Inaccuracies in GC

b. 179

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

..

In A the 2nd part of the bar in the R.H. was deleted and rewritten next to the stave. The ties sustaining d2-a2 are in the deleted part of the bar, while in the part which was rewritten there is only a tie sustaining a2. As a result of this ambiguous notation, in GC (→GE) only the tie to a2 was copied. In FE and EE the ambiguous notation of A was interpreted, according to us, correctly, preserving both ties. 

category imprint: Differences between sources; Source & stylistic information

issues: Deletions in A , Inaccuracies in GC

b. 179-180

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

Slurs in A, contextual interpretation

Slurs in GC (literal reading)

Slurs in A (literal reading→FE,contextual interpretation of GC)

Slurs in GE

No slurs in EE
..

The first slur in the L.H. is written "with panache," as a result of which it was misinterpreted both in GC and in FE. The slurs of GE are even more misleading, so that in GE the beginnings of both slurs were moved to the 1st quaver of each beat in bar 179. In the main text we give the obvious in this context interpretation of slurs of A. The lack of slurs in EE results from an oversight by the engraver (as in the previous bar).

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Errors in EE , Inaccurate slurs in A , Inaccuracies in GC

b. 179

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

..

The bottom note of the third semiquaver in the R.H. was corrected in GC from f2 to e2. It is hard to state clearly whether it is Gutmann's own correction or whether it was Chopin that noticed and corrected the wrong pitch while reviewing GC. Cf. analogous bar 183.

category imprint: Source & stylistic information

issues: Inaccuracies in GC , Alterations in GC