mUltimate Chopin

Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

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Issues : Uncertain notes on ledger lines

b. 214

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

Chord with e1 in A, probable reading

Chord with no e1 in A (possible reading→FE→GE,EE)
..

On the basis of the available photograph of A, it is difficult to say whether the chord at the beginning of the bar includes e1. It is difficult to assess such situations even on the basis of original manuscripts, e.g. in the Etude in A, Op. 10 No. 10, b. 76 (a, interpreted by the engraver and probably inexistent) or in the Etude in G, Op. 10 No. 5, b. 15 (overlooked e1, probably existent). As it would be the only difference between these two otherwise identical four-bar sections, we consider it unlikely that Chopin would have wanted to introduce such a subtle difference into these dashing and energetic phrases. 

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Uncertain notes on ledger lines

b. 223

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

a-c1-d1 in A

a-d1 in FE (→GE,EE)
..

The absence of c1 in FE (→GE,EE) resulted, according to us, from a misinterpretation of A, in which this crotchet actually seems to include only 2 notes. However, the unnatural protrusion on the ledger line in A almost certainly proves that the note is there – cf., e.g. the thickness of the ledger lines in the chord on the 2nd crotchet in this bar. Moreover, although this place occurs only once, a similar D7 chord with an identical resolution is to be found a number of times (b. 217, 219 and analog.), always as an a-c1-d1 chord.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Errors in FE , Uncertain notes on ledger lines