mUltimate Chopin

Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Errors in GE

b. 233

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

No mark in A & GE

Staccato dot in FE (→EE)
..

In the available photograph of A, one cannot see the staccato dot over the c-c1 octave. Therefore, Chopin most probably added it while proofreading FE (→EE). The easiest explanation for the absence of the mark in GE is the engraver's oversight (cf. the note in the next bar).

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Errors in GE , Authentic corrections of FE

b. 234-236

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

Staccato dots in A

No marks in FE (→GE,EE)
..

The 6 missing staccato dots over the L.H. octaves must be a mistake by the engraver of FE (→GE,EE); he overlooked these marks in the entire line and resumed adding them only just in b. 237.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Errors in FE , Errors in GE

b. 237

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

Staccato in A (→FE→EE)

No mark in GE
..

The engraver of GE added his oversight at the beginning of this bar to the six staccato dots overlooked by FE. 

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Errors in GE

b. 243

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

b with  in A (→FE→EE,GE)

b in GE1a

b without  suggested by the editors
..

The version of GE1a is most probably a mistake by the engraver, although one cannot completely exclude a revision – the cautionary  to b, present in the remaining sources, is not indispensable here and could have been considered erroneous. The engraver or reviser of GE1a was similarly overly zealous in, e.g. b. 232.
In A there is no  raising e1 to e1 in this chord. It is almost certainly a mistake – cf. e1 in b. 240-241 – corrected by FE (→GE,EE). In the main text we omit the cautionary  to b, more justified in the original layout, in which the first 5 quavers in the previous bar – to b – are written down on the bottom stave.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources; Editorial revisions

issues: Errors in GE , Cautionary accidentals , Authentic corrections of FE , FE revisions

b. 245-246

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

2 separate slurs in A

Continuous slur in FE (→EE)

3 separate slurs in GE
..

In A, the slurs between these bars were being corrected – according to us, Chopin divided the initial continuous slur, which is indicated by the endings marking the division of the slur (the endings are clearly bolder, hence more important, final). However, the part of the initial slur that was supposed to be deleted was not eventually removed, hence FE (→EE) understood this correction the other way around (it is also likely that the correction was not there yet when FE was being engraved – see the description of FE). In the main text we give the slurs separated by Chopin. The versions of GE and GE1a, with the slur divided before the last sextuplet and after it, most probably resulted from mistakes or arbitrary revisions.
We discuss the issue of the additional slurs encompassing the sextuplets separately – see the previous note.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations; Source & stylistic information

issues: Errors in FE , Corrections in A , Errors resulting from corrections , Errors in GE , GE revisions