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The title and dedication of A after inclusion of the probable contents of the lost title page for the entire opus |
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The differences in the wording of the title given to the entire opus and to the Nocturne are connected with certain broader issues. The inauthentic, sentimental title "Les Plaintives" added in EE is not an isolated instance for Chopin's works published by Wessel & Co. Chopin did not approve of the pretentious titles invented by Wessel and repeatedly made his disapproval known to his English editor. This is how he wrote about it in a letter to Julian Fontana of 9 Oct. 1841: "Now about Wessel: he is a windbag and a cheat. [...] if he has lost on my compositions, it is doubtless because of the silly titles which he has given them without my consent and in spite of the strong objection several times expressed by Mr. Stapleton; [...] if I were to listen to my feelings, I would never send him anything more after those titles".
In its extant autograph, the Nocturne is entitled 8me Nocturne, yet that description, placing the Nocturne on the list of the works of that genre published by Chopin, did not appear in GE. As Chopin never objected to that approach, and perhaps even accepted it, we leave only the numbering of the Nocturnes within the opus, following GE (→FE) in that respect. The overall numbering is also given in EE (8e Nocturne). It is not related with the caption in A but forms part of a general policy of Wessel's firm, which sought to integrate published works in wider editorial series. As regards the whole Op. 27 EE also states that it is the fourth set of nocturnes (Quatrième recueil de Nocturnes).
There is no dedication in A, yet it was definitely written on the title page of the autograph of the entire opus 27 or otherwise communicated by Chopin to his Leipzig-based editor of the Nocturnes (GE). The dedication is also absent from EE2.
category imprint: Differences between sources; Editorial revisions
issues: EE revisions, Dedications, Various titles
notation: Verbal indications
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