mUltimate Chopin

Op. 38, Ballade in F major

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : EE inaccuracies

b. 125-126

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

 in A (→GC,FE)

in EE

in GE
..

The  hairpin under the L.H. motif in bars 125-126 is shorter than in similar situations, which must have resulted from the transition to a new page. In the main text we give a longer mark modelled after the previous bars; such a version is included also in GE. In the remaining editions the hairpin was shortened with respect to the notation of A, which could not have been intended by Chopin.

category imprint: Differences between sources; Editorial revisions

issues: Scope of dynamic hairpins , GE revisions , EE inaccuracies

b. 132-133

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

 in A

 in GC (→GE)

in FE

 cresc. in EE
..

All versions of dynamic indications differing from the one written in A result from an inaccurate reproduction of the notation of the autograph:

  • shift of the cresc. indication in GC, slightly intensified in GE, is an inaccuracy that was probably aimed at keeping the notation transparent. Its possible influence on the performance seems to be marginal.
  • the changes introduced in EE (forced by the start of a new line), and particularly the ones in FE, in which the  hairpin was shortened and the cresc. indication was omitted, contribute to a more serious change of the layout.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in FE , EE inaccuracies

b. 147-148

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

Long accents in A (→GC,FE)

Short accents in GE & EE
..

According to us, two accents in the R.H. written in A are to be interpreted as long and this is how they were reproduced in FE (yet not in EE). The nature of equivalent signs in GC, despite its similarity to Chopin signs, is already less clear, thus GE has rather short accents.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Long accents , EE inaccuracies

b. 148

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

..

The sign under two last octaves in the L.H. in A may be interpreted as diminuendo hairpins or a long accent. Both in GC and in FE it was interpreted rather as a long accent (the short accent in EE must be already considered as a misinterpretation). In turn, we interpret the slightly longer sign in GE as  hairpins. Due to the frequent use of   in this fragment, we give preference to such an interpretation also in the case of A.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Long accents , EE inaccuracies

b. 153-155

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

Continuous slur in A (→GC→GE)

New slur from bar 154 in FE

New slur from bar 155 in EE
..

Discontinuous slurs in FE and EE are probably inaccurate due to the line breaks in A and FE. The engraver of FE presumably reproduced a slur over the last two bars in a line, what corresponds to bars 153-154 in A, but 154-155 in FE. The slurs in EE result most likely from misinterpretation of a slur which is notated over two lines in A.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in FE , EE inaccuracies