mUltimate Chopin

Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Authentic corrections of FE

b. 113

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

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In A, Chopin overlooked two necessary accidentals – a  to f and a  to b. Both inaccuracies were removed in FE (→GE,EE). By contrast, in the R.H. part, the  to b1 in the middle of the bar was unnecessarily repeated; it was included in all editions. We omit this accidental in the main text.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Accidentals in different octaves , Cautionary accidentals , Authentic corrections of FE , FE revisions

b. 114-115

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

2 slurs in A

Slur in FE (→GE,EE)
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The longer slur of FE (→GE,EE) must have resulted from Chopinesque proofreading. It is proven by the corrections to the slurs of A in b. 112-114, moving in this direction.

category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: Authentic corrections of FE

b. 121

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

No slur in A (→FE1→GE,EE)

Slur in FE2
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There is no reason to doubt the authenticity of the slur added in the stage of proofreading FE2. The absence of the slur in A could have been caused by corrections – see the preceding note.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Errors resulting from corrections , Authentic corrections of FE

b. 123

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

Mordent with a2 in FE (→EE)
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According to us, the sharp over the mordent, added almost certainly by Chopin while proofreading FE (→EE), does not change the sound, but specifies the incomplete notation of A. It is already the G minor chord in the preceding bar that suggests the further direction of the modulation; a modulation that, through the G minor key (featuring a), showed explicitly in the octave sequence in the discussed bar, and the e-g-b-d chord in the next two bars strives for the dominant chord in D minor in b. 126 (which found its eventual resolution on E major 12 bars later).
The easiest explanation for GE missing the  is the engraver's oversight.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Errors in GE , Authentic corrections of FE , Inaccuracies in A

b. 124

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

No sign in A

Arpeggio sign in FE (→GE,EE)
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In FE (→GE,EE), the arpeggio mark was almost certainly added by Chopin.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Authentic corrections of FE