GC - Gutmann's copy
| Date: | 1839 |
| Title: | Ballada op. 38 |
| Dedication: | Mr Robert Schuhmann |
Title page written with Chopin's hand: Ballade / pour le Piano forte / didié a Mr Robert Schuhmann [!] par / Chopin. Copy marked with plate number of the first edition of Breitkopf & Härtl 6330, it has an erroneous opus number: Op. 36 [!] added with ink. The copy has the original pagination in the right and left top corners of the music text. The paper preserved in the Archive in Stockholm.
Gutmann's copy, together with the preserved autograph of the Ballade enabled to decipher Gutmann's writing and to confirm his authorship in the case of a few other preserved, until now anonymous, copies of Chopin's works.
GC was proofread by Chopin. It is evidenced by the complements to dynamics, slurring or pedalling where Chopin's hand is often recognizable with high degree of probability. Numerous places also disclose changes of pitch of some notes, however, it is hard to determine whether they are Gutmann's own corrections or Chopin's proofreading (cf. bar 148).
GC is not free from errors and inaccuracies. The most significant deviations from the original include:
- inaccuracies of the pedalling notation (e.g. in bar 158);
- inaccuracies in slurring – errors following from both inability to interpret correctly the ambiguous notation of A (e.g. combining separate slurs into one slur in A in bars 14, 18, 20, 22, 30) and inaccuracies of notation – the slurs are of sweeping nature, they often overlap themselves (e.g. in bars 46-47, bar 111);
- inaccuracies in the notation of hairpins – problem with deciphering the notation of A (e.g. in bars 33-34);
- inaccuracies in tying notes of the same pitch – ties are often overlooked, e.g. in bars 18-19, 127-128, 179-180;
- numerous omissions of accidentals (e.g. in bars 36, 49, 126).
| Original in: | Stiftelsen Musikkulturens Framjande, Sztokholm |
| Shelf-mark: | MMS400 |
