mUltimate Chopin

Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

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Issues : Inaccuracies in A

b. 140

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

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In A (→FE→GE), there is no accidental to the 4th L.H. crotchet. Chopin's patent, as it seems, oversight went unnoticed by FE and the majority of GE; it was corrected only by EE and GE1a.

In A, the L.H. part was being corrected in this bar; consequently, due to deletions, Chopin was forced to write the final version on an adjacent stave. However, the flat was not overlooked due to the corrections, since it was also absent in the initial version of notation. The change concerned mainly rhythm, i.e. there were rests instead of the 3rd and 6th crotchets: . Before deleting the entire bar, Chopin probably changed the last chord too:  (both examples are to be interpreted in the key of E major, featuring A and a notes).

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations; Source & stylistic information

issues: EE revisions , Corrections in A , GE revisions , Deletions in A , Accompaniment changes , Inaccuracies in A , Errors repeated in GE , Errors repeated in FE

b. 142-144

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

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category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Omissions to cancel alteration , Omission of current key accidentals , Authentic corrections of FE , FE revisions , Inaccuracies in A

b. 146

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

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In A, there is no  to the bottom note of the last octave. It was added by FE (→GE,EE).

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Accidentals in different octaves , FE revisions , Inaccuracies in A

b. 148

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

Half-bar  in A

Whole-bar  in FE (→GE,EE)

 suggested by the editors
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We interpret the notation of A as incomplete or perhaps erroneous. Chopin wrote a  only in the 1st half of the bar, on which the end of the line falls in A; perhaps he was convinced that the bar had already ended or simply forgot to write the ending of the mark in a new line. Anyways, the shape of the figurations in this bar suggests that the crescendo should be continued in the 2nd half of the bar and to the very end, since the topmost note falls only just on the beginning of the next bar (unlike in the previous two). Due to the above, in the main text we model the beginning of the mark after previous analogous bars; as far as the ending is concerned, we lead it to the end of the bar.

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

issues: Scope of dynamic hairpins , FE revisions , Inaccuracies in A

b. 153

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

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In A, the  to the 2nd quaver (e2) and 3 naturals to the 5th crotchet in the bar (B-b and b1) are missing. All accidentals were already added by FE (→GE,EE). In the main text we also add cautionary naturals to g2 and a2. The latter was also added by EE.

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

issues: EE revisions , Accidentals in different octaves , Omission of current key accidentals , Authentic corrections of FE , FE revisions , Inaccuracies in A