mUltimate Chopin

Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Inaccuracies in FE

b. 166-167

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

Long accents in A

Short accents in FE (→GE,EE)
..

We consider both accents of A, although differing in shape, to be long accents due to their size (cf., e.g. the clearly smaller mark in b. 173). FE reproduced the accents as short (GE and EE did it in an even more pronounced manner).

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Long accents , Inaccuracies in FE

b. 169-170

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

Continuous slur in A (→contextual interpretation of FE→GE) & GE1a

Separate slurs in EE
..

In A (→FE,EE), b. 169 ends the line, which resulted in an inaccuracy in the reproduction of the slur – at the end of b. 169 the aforementioned editions suggest that it should be continued, yet in b. 170 a new slur starts from the 1st crotchet (in all of them). In EE and GE1a these bars are in one line, yet each of them interpreted this vague notation differently – EE separated the slurs, while GE1a combined them. We reproduce the inaccurate version of FE and GE in the graphic transcription (version 'transcript'); by contrast, we adopt a continuous slur as the text of these editions (version 'edited text'), in accordance with A.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: EE revisions , Inaccuracies in FE , Uncertain slur continuation , Errors repeated in GE

b. 170

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

b2-b2 & e2-c3 in A (→FE) & GE3 (→GE4)

b2-b2 & e2-c3 in A (→FE) & GE3 (→GE4)

b2 & e2-b2-c3 in GE1 (→GE1a,GE2) & EE

b2 & e2-b2-c3 in GE1 (→GE1a,GE2) & EE
..

In A (→FE), the b2-b2 augmented unison is written in such a way that the stem reaches only the left notehead (b2). In A, the notation is clear, since the stem is placed to the right of the notehead, hence it falls between both notes, and the gap between the right note and the next e2-c3 sixth is evident. However, FE, although the notation is practically the same, placed the stem (in accordance with the rule) to the left of the b2 notehead, while b2 is so close to the sixth that both GE1 (→GE1a,GE2) and EE interpreted these notes as a chord: e2-b2-c3. It was only GE3 (→GE4) that guessed how the version of FE is to be understood. See also b. 171.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in FE , Errors in EE , Errors in GE , GE revisions

b. 170-172

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

Wedges in A, probable reading

Dots in FE (→GE,EE)
..

The available photograph of A gives no certainty as to the form of the staccato markings over the octaves in the middle of each of these bars, i.e. whether they are wedges or dots. It seems that the marks in b. 171 and 172 are almost certainly wedges, which is also possible in the case of b. 170, which, however, was not reproduced by the editions. In the main text we keep the dots present in our principal source, FE2, in spite of the fact that the marks were chosen (not necessarily accurately) probably by the engraver of FE. This solution is supported by the editorial consistency with respect to the dots over the quintuplet crotchets in b. 170-171 along with the arguments presented therein and by the aforementioned uncertainty of the interpretation of A on the basis of an imperfect photograph.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in FE , Wedges , Inaccuracies in A

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