mUltimate Chopin

Op. 38, Ballade in F major

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Errors of A

b. 76

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

..

We add the flats, overlooked in A (→GC,FE), lowering e1 to e1 and a1 to a1 in the R.H. A similar addition was performed in EE and GE.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources; Editorial revisions

issues: EE revisions , GE revisions , Omission of current key accidentals , Errors of A

b. 101

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

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In A (→GC,FE1→FE2) there is no  lowering a to a in the L.H. The undoubted oversight by Chopin was corrected in EE, GE and FE3.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Errors of A , FE revisions , Errors repeated in FE

b. 125-126

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

No G in bar 126 in A (→FE,EE,GC→GE)

G suggested by the editors
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In the sources there is no extension of G to bar 126 (note and tie). It is almost certainly Chopin's oversight, related to the transition from bar 126 to a new page in A. Cf. analogous bars 101, 107 and 132.

category imprint: Editorial revisions

issues: Errors of A

b. 135

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

f2-f3 in A, FE1 & GC (contextual interpretation) and FE2 (→FE3) & GE

f2-f3 in EE
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In A, the third and fourth chords in the R.H. contain patent mistakes: there is no accidental before the third one, which results in a f2 simultaneously with f3, whereas before the fourth one Chopin wrote a  before the lowest note and a  lowering e3 to e3, which also results in a f2 simultaneously with f3. The sharp before the 4th chord, unnecessary in the current configuration, confirms the assumption resulting from a comparison with analogous bar 110 that Chopin meant f2-f3 in the third chord and f2-f3 in the fourth one. This version, without errors, is present in FE2 (→FE3), corrected by Chopin. In all sources based directly on A, the following inauthentic corrections were performed:

  • in GC, the copyist added a necessary  before the topmost note of the 4th chord (f3) while omitting the  before e3. In GE, the text was revised to the correct version of FE2;
  • in FE1, the  before the lowest note of the 4th chord was omitted, which, however, did not influence the correctness of the notation, which still contained two mistakes;
  • in EE, a  was added before the top note of the 3rd chord, which resulted in a harmonically reasonable version, yet certainly inauthentic in the face of the Chopinesque proofreading of FE2.  

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources; Editorial revisions

issues: EE revisions , Omissions to cancel alteration , GE revisions , Errors of A , Authentic corrections of FE , Errors repeated in FE

b. 136

composition: Op. 38, Ballade in F major

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There is no  lowering e3 to e3 in the first R.H. chord in A (→FE1,GC→GE). The error was corrected in FE2 (→FE3) and EE.

category imprint: Editorial revisions

issues: Omission of current key accidentals , Errors of A , Errors of GC , Errors repeated in FE