mUltimate Chopin

Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Inaccuracies in GE

b. 128-129

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

No indication in A

cresc. - - - - in FE (→EE)

cresc. - - in GE

cresc. in GE1a
..

Both the range of the dashes marking the range of cresc. having been shortened and them having been overlooked resulted from inaccuracies by the engravers of GE1 and GE1a, respectively. 

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in GE , Authentic corrections of FE

b. 140

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

Slur to b. 141 in A (→FE)

Slur in b. 140 in GE & EE
..

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in GE , EE inaccuracies

b. 141

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

Continued slur in A (→FE→EE)

New slur in GE
..

As was described in b. 140, the slur of A (→FE→EE) clearly continues the slur from the preceding bar, which, due to the vague position of the ending of the slur of FE in b. 140, was not included by GE.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in GE

b. 155

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

L.H. long accent in A

in FE (→EE)

R.H. short accent in GE
..

The typical long accent over the L.H. chord was reproduced by FE (→EE) as a short  hairpin under the R.H. part, correlated with the  in the previous bar. In GE, the mark was distorted to an even greater extent – it was provided with the form of a short accent under e3.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Long accents , Inaccuracies in GE , Inaccuracies in FE

b. 170-172

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

 in A, literal reading

in FE

in GE

in EE

 suggested by the editors
..

The interpretation of the three  marks in A can be approached from different angles:

  • Literal interpretation, in which the range of the marks is related to the respective R.H. crotchets, which results in three increasingly shorter marks. Such a version, suggesting increasingly shorter and milder crescendos, matches the descending direction of this sequence;
  • the difference in the range of the first two marks may be regarded as insubstantial, which suggests that all three hairpins should be unified, since the shape of the melody is the same in each bar. We suggest this version in the main text.

The versions of the editions resulted from the marks in b. 170-171 having been unified; none of these changes resembles Chopinesque proofreading process.

category imprint: Differences between sources; Editorial revisions

issues: Inaccuracies in GE , Inaccuracies in FE , Scope of dynamic hairpins , EE inaccuracies , Inaccuracies in A