In A, the 5 accents at the beginning of the R.H. quaver figures are of different length – the shortest are in b. 10 and 12, while the longest – in b. 14 and 16. However, all of them are provided with a slender shape, typical of long accents. As there is no reason to differentiate between the accents (and the last two are undoubtedly long), we interpret all of them as long; this is also the shape in which we give them in the main text. In FE, it is only the last accent that is clearly longer (in b. 16); in the remaining editions the marks were standardised as common short accents.
The issue of distinguishing between those two types of accents, not always possible to unequivocally decide, is present throughout the entire Ballade and is also to be found in many other works by Chopin.
Compare the passage in the sources »
category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources
issues: Long accents, Inaccuracies in A
notation: Articulation, Accents, Hairpins