mUltimate Chopin

Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Errors in GE

b. 1

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

Largo in A (→FE→EE)

Lento in GE
..

Lento could have been entered by Chopin into the proof copy of the Ballade that served as the basis for GE1. However, it is uncertain whether that copy indeed included Chopin's amendments; therefore, the authenticity of Lento remains unsure. Chopin could have hesitated between these two indications – Largo works perfectly with the initial fragment,  and pesante, whereas Lento seems to be better suited to the second phrase, played , imbued with sorrow and resignation.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Errors in GE , Authentic corrections of GE

b. 44-45

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

2 slurs, second to b. 45 in A

2 slurs in b. 44 in FE (→GE1,EE)

1 slur in GE1a

No slurs in GE2 (→GE3→GE4)
..

The missing second slur in GE1a and both slurs in GE2 (→GE3→GE4) must be errors of the engravers. The mistake committed in GE2 is a side effect of re-engraving this bar, on the edge of the page, due to the wear and tear of printing materials (engraving plates). In A, the second slur is clearly led to the beginning of b. 45; however, in FE (→GE1,EE), the ending of that slur does not reach that far.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in FE , Errors in GE , Uncertain slur continuation

b. 47

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

..

GE1 (→GE1a,GE2→GE3) has a1 as the 5th quaver. The error is indicated by:

  • c2 occurring in A (→FE→EE),
  • analogy with bar 45,
  • a pianistically awkward cluster with the L.H. a1.

The error was corrected only in GE4.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Errors in GE , Terzverschreibung error , GE revisions , Errors repeated in GE

b. 103-104

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

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In GE, the dots prolonging the g2 minims in b. 103-104 and g1 in b. 104 were overlooked (the latter was added by GE1a).

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Errors in GE

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