The difference between GE and the remaining sources was questionable while Chopin was still alive. The version of GE may be either a revision of this edition (cf. the comment on b. 45-47) or a variation introduced by Chopin (to avoid parallel fifths in the top voices?, along with Lento? – cf. the comment on b. 1). Many years after Chopin's death, Camille Saint−Saëns stated that, judging from a vague answer of Liszt, who was asked about that issue, Chopin would play d1 here. However, the version featuring e
1 is supported by the testimonies of four persons closely related to Chopin, i.e. Marcelina Czartoryska, Friederike Streicher, Ferdinand Hiller and Adolf Gutmann. Moreover, the version is also supported by A, which is a very reliable source, and FE, proofread by Chopin twice.
As in many other places in the Ballade and in other compositions by Chopin, in one of the later impressions of EE – in this case in EE3 – a change was introduced on the basis of a comparison with GE.
category imprint: Differences between sources
issues: EE revisions, GE revisions, Authentic corrections of GE
notation: Pitch
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