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Reviewed by:
  • Préludes, and: Balladen = Ballades, and: Ballades Op. 23, Op. 38, Op. 47, Op. 52
  • Jonathan D. Bellman
Frédéric Chopin. Préludes. Herausgegeben von = edited by Norbert Müllemann. Fingersatz von = Fingering by Hermann Keller. (Urtext.) München: G. Henle Verlag, 2007. [Preface in Eng., Fre., Ger., p. iv–xiv; sigla used in footnotes, p. 1; score, p. 2–59; commentary in Eng., Ger., p. 61–71 (detailed critical commentary in Ger. only at www.henle.de). ISMN M-2018-0882-6; ISBN 979-0-2018-0882-6; pub. no. HN 882 (paper), HN 883 (cloth). $25.95 (paper), $45.95 (cloth).]
Frédéric Chopin. Balladen = Ballades. Herausgegeben von = edited by Norbert Müllemann. Fingersatz von = Fingering by Hans-Martin Theopold. (Urtext.) München: G. Henle Verlag, 2008. [Preface in Eng., Fre., Ger., p. v–xvii; sigla used in footnotes, 1 p.; score, p. 1–55; commentary in Eng., Ger., p. 57–74 (detailed critical commentary in Ger. only at www.henle.de). ISMN M-2018-0862-8; ISBN 979-0-2018-0862-8; [End Page 857] pub. no. HN 862 (paper), HN 863 (cloth). $28.95 (paper), $43.95 (cloth).]
Fryderyk Chopin. Ballades Op. 23, Op. 38, Op. 47, Op. 52. Edited by = Herausgegeben von = éditée par Jim Samson. (The Complete Chopin: A New Critical Edition.) (Urtext.) London: Edition Peters, 2006. [Frontispiece (facsim.), p. [ii]; preface in Eng., Fre., Ger., p. iii–x; score, p. 1–57; notes on editorial method and practice in Eng., p. 59–60; critical commentary in Eng., p. 61–69. ISMN M-57708-258-5; ISBN 979-0-57708-258-5; pub. no. Edition Peters no. 7531. Paper. $19.95.]

One of the standard components of undergraduate- and graduate-level bibliography classes is a unit examining a variety of contrasting editions of music: facsimile, diplomatic transcription, urtext, scholarly edition, performance edition, study score, and editions that seek to combine elements of two or more types. Such a pedagogical exercise underscores the validity of all of these different kinds of editions, depending on user need. One size does not fit all; the needs of a piano student playing her first Chopin prelude, for example, are not the same as those of the Chopin scholar, or the graduate student in musicology reviewing large portions of the repertoire for qualifying examinations. The lesson is that different kinds of editions are conceived with such different purposes in mind. Similarly, each new edition—particularly of Chopin, whose music is not exactly hard to find—should likewise have a reason for being. If there is to be a new performance edition of Chopin’s works, it ought to respond to a specific need, and to offer some improvement over previous editions: improved fingerings and editorial apparatus, better readability, perhaps a deeper-context approach to variants. If it is a new scholarly or scholarly-performance edition, it is reasonable to hope for new information: more up-to-date scholarship, reconsideration of sources or access to new ones, or perhaps a deeper editorial consideration before performance suggestions are made about the relevant historical-notational conventions and performance practices.

Consider, for example, the ongoing Complete Chopin: A New Critical Edition of that composer’s works from Peters. As of this writing, four volumes are out: the preludes, edited by Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger; the ballades, edited by Jim Samson; the Waltzes, edited by Christophe Grabowski; and the Piano Concerto no. 1, edited by John Rink. Future volumes will appear under the editorship of these same and others such as Anatole Leikin. The only fingerings that are included are those authentic to the composer, such as those he notated in his students’ scores. A philosophical statement (more on this matter shortly) is provided in each volume, and alternate versions of certain works are also included, in appendices. The entire project brings together many of the top names in contemporary Chopin scholarship. (For chopinistes of indefatigable curiosity, mention should also be made of the Chopin Early Editions project of the Special Collections Research Center at the University of Chicago Library, http://chopin.lib.uchicago.edu/ [accessed 18 February 2009]. High-quality digital images of a variety of first and early...

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