mUltimate Chopin

Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Main-line changes

b. 33

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

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In A, the R.H. part in the entire 2nd half of the bar was deleted and rewritten on the stave above. Insofar as it is possible to interpret the legible fragments, the change probably concerned the rhythmic issues only – it can be seen that the first 8 notes of the roulade were provided with semiquaver beams, 4 notes each, as in the 1st half of the bar. The corrections were carried out in two stages: first, Chopin deleted the final fragment of the roulade, which he then rewrote at the end of the line; it was only then that he deleted the entire 2nd half of the bar. 

category imprint: Corrections & alterations; Source & stylistic information

issues: Corrections in A , Deletions in A , Main-line changes

b. 63

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

d2 in A & FE2, GE & EE

b1 in FE1
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The b1 note in FE1 must be a mistake of the engraver, corrected in FE2 (probably by Chopin). The correct version in GE and EE may mean that it was also the bases for these editions that included Chopinesque corrections; however, it is uncertain, since such a mistake could have been detected by the reviser thanks to the very regular structure of the passages of this section.

In A, one can see another deleted note between the f1 and d2 quavers, most probably b1. The gaps between the notes in the entire group suggest that it was not replaced by d2, but removed from the initial version of the passage, which probably did not include the 2nd quaver, d1: .

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

issues: EE revisions , Errors in FE , Corrections in A , Terzverschreibung error , GE revisions , Deletions in A , Authentic corrections of FE , Main-line changes

b. 75

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

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The way the notes are arranged in A indicates that a correction was made – two quavers and a triplet beam were added. Initially, there was probably only one note there, i.e. c2 (crotchet).

category imprint: Corrections & alterations; Source & stylistic information

issues: Corrections in A , Main-line changes

b. 120-121

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

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The deletions visible in A in these bars and empty space after the most probably erased g1 note under the a2 quaver in b. 121, which was initially most probably a g2 (it did not have a ledger line that would cross it), reveal that initially the 2nd half of b. 120 and the 1st half of b. 121 were analogous to b. 118-119: . The missing mordent in this version allows us to imagine two scenarios of the changes:

  • the idea to diversify b. 120-121 with respect to b. 118-119 came to Chopin when he was just about to write a mordent in the initial version of b. 121;
  • initially, there were no mordents in both places; it was only the melodically developed version of b. 120-121 that prompted Chopin to add an ornament 2 bars earlier.

category imprint: Corrections & alterations; Source & stylistic information

issues: Corrections in A , Deletions in A , Main-line changes

b. 134-135

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

Figuration from c4 in A

Figuration from b3 in FE (→GE,EE)
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The version introduced at the stage of proofreading FE (→GE,EE), certainly by Chopin, is definitely an improvement – the connection with the previous bar is smoother, while the shape of the applied motif refers to b. 126-129. The notation of A does not include any of the two necessary flats to a3.

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

issues: Omission of current key accidentals , Authentic corrections of FE , Main-line changes , Inaccuracies in A