mUltimate Chopin

Op. 38, Ballade in F major

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Scope of dynamic hairpins

b. 64

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

 in A (→GC)

in FE, EE & GE
..

In all editions, small discrepancies notwithstanding, the  hairpin is distinctly shorter than in manuscripts. It attests, in our opinion, to the routine approach of engravers, who tried to adjust the range of the sign to elements of the notation related to the rhythmical structure, like notes or bars.

category imprint: Differences between sources

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

b. 66

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

 in A (→GC)

in FE

in EE & GE
..

In EE and GE the  ends with the 2nd beat of bar 66. Perhaps the editors' revision was caused by the will to obtain an analogy with bar 64, in which cresc. actually embraces only the 2nd half of the bar.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: EE revisions , Inaccuracies in GE , Inaccuracies in FE , Scope of dynamic hairpins

b. 92-93

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

 in A (→EE)

 in GC i FE

in EE

 in GE
..

The shortening of the  sign in FE is rather certainly the result of the text's layout – bar 93 starts a new line. However, it is difficult to establish the cause for the shortening of the sign in GC. The copyist could e.g. have mistaken these bars with bars 94-95 where A has a shorter sign. We regard the inaccuracies – in relation to the Stichvorlage – of the hairpins in GE and EE as the effect of a routine adjusting of the signs to the rhythmical structures. We give the A notation in the main text.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in GE , Inaccuracies in FE , Scope of dynamic hairpins , EE inaccuracies , Inaccuracies in GC

b. 123-124

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

in A

in GC (→GE)

in FE

No sign in EE
..

Similarly to the slur, the moment where the  hairpin begins is not obvious in the manuscripts. We assume that the sign in A has the character of a long accent, and starts slightly before the a crotchet. However, the sign in GC starts after the minim at the beginning of the bar, as it was interpreted by GE which is based on this copy. The shortening of the hairpin in FE resulted most probably from the line-break, and the sign in EE was overlooked.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in FE , Scope of dynamic hairpins , Errors in EE , Inaccuracies in GC

b. 124-125

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

 in A (→GC→GE)

No sign in FE

in EE
..

The lack of  hairpin is most probably an oversight by the engraver of FE. The much shorter sign in EE is likely inaccurate.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Errors in FE , Scope of dynamic hairpins , EE inaccuracies