mUltimate Chopin

Op. 38, Ballade in F major

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Authentic corrections of FE

b. 106

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

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Due to an oversight, in FE1 there is no upper part of the L.H. in the 2nd half of bar 106. The part was completed in FE2, yet without the  lowering e1 to e1, which was added only in FE3.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Errors in FE , Authentic corrections of FE , FE revisions

b. 108

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

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FE1 has an erroneous  before the bottom note of the first R.H. chord. The mistake was most certainly induced by the notation of A – a  before that note resembles a  owing to its faintly written lower part. The error was corrected in FE2 (→FE3).

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Errors in FE , Authentic corrections of FE

b. 110

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

Octaves in A (→FE1,EE)

Chords with e3 in GC & FE2 (→FE3)

Chords with f3 in GE
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The octaves in A (→FE1,EE) are the original version – Chopin completed it by adding the e3 notes both in GC and in a proofreading of FE2 (→FE3). We give this version, corrected twice in a different period of time, in which the transition from the four-bar chord in the middle of the bar to the octave in bar 11 is smoother, thanks to the triads, as the main one. The f3 note on the last quaver in GE is most probably a result of a misinterpretation of the note in GC, which was written slightly too high.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: Errors in GE , Accompaniment changes , Authentic corrections of FE , Authentic corrections in GC

b. 110

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

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FE1 overlooked the  raising c3 to c3 in the first R.H. chord. The accidental was added in FE2 (→FE3).

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Errors in FE , Omission of current key accidentals , Authentic corrections of FE

b. 111-112

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

Tied octave in A (→FE1,EE,GC→GE) & FE3

Repeated octave in FE2
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The B1-B octave, sustained at the transition between bars 111 and 112, is probably the original version of this place, changed in a proofreading of FE2, probably by Chopin. Playing the octave at the beginning of bar 112 could have aimed at, e.g., achieving rhythmic similarity with analogous bars 136-137. The slurs were then returned in FE3, the authenticity of this change is however not as likely as in the previous case, as a lot points to a significant, if not the exclusive, participation of the reviser in a proofreading of FE3. Hence we give the version of FE2, probably corrected by Chopin, as the main one. 

category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: Authentic corrections of FE , FE revisions