mUltimate Chopin

Op. 38, Ballade in F major

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Inaccuracies in GC

b. 20-22

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

Slurs in A

Slur in GC (→GE), FE & EE
..

In all sources except for A, the slurs of the L.H. are not separated in these bars. Presumably, both the copyist and the engravers considered the gaps to be an inaccuracy of the slurs' links in A, especially that the slurs of the R.H. were actually extended in these places.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in FE , EE inaccuracies , Inaccuracies in GC

b. 21

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

..

The middle component of the last chord in the R.H. was certainly corrected in GC from f1 to g1. 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. the annotation in bar 13.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Corrections & alterations; Source & stylistic information

issues: Inaccuracies in GC , Alterations in GC

b. 26

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

 in A (→FE)

GC (→GE)

EE
..

Both the earlier start of the  mark in GC (→GE) and the fact of its shortening in EE is a result of an inaccurate interpretation of A.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: EE inaccuracies , Inaccuracies in GC

b. 33-34

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

  in A

GC

FE

EE

GE
..

The sources differ in the range of the   hairpins, which in the majority of the cases does not however significantly influence their musical sense. In the main text we give the marks based on A, as nothing indicates that Chopin changed anything in the remaining sources. From the graphical point of view, it is the text of GE that is most distant from the version of A, in which there is an accumulation of effects of inaccuracies of the copyist and engraver. However, according to us, the major risk of distorting Chopin's idea stems from the notation of EE in which the dynamic climax seems to fall on the 3rd quaver of the bar.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in GE , Inaccuracies in GC

b. 38-41

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

Slurs in A (→EE)

GC

FE

GE
..

Only EE recreated the notation of the slurs of A correctly. The version of FE, despite shortening the slurs, does not change the general idea of Chopin's phrasing. However, both the inaccurate slurs of GC and their arbitrary interpretation in GE distort the phrasing determined by Chopin.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in GE , Inaccuracies in FE , Inaccuracies in GC