The National Edition of the Works of Fryderyk Chopin (), also known as the Chopin National Edition and the Polish National Edition, is an urtext edition of the complete works by Frédéric Chopin, aiming to present his output in its authentic form.

Started by Jan Ekier in 1959, the entirety of Chopin's known works were published in 37 volumes from 1967 to 2010, accompanied by source and performance commentaries. The Chopin National Edition is considered the authoritative edition of Chopin's works, and is recommended to contestants of the International Chopin Piano Competition.

History

In 1959, Jan Ekier started the project of a new critical edition of Chopin's works, as he came to the conclusion that the prevailing Paderewski edition presented a "false image of Chopin's music in many aspects". The first volume of Ballades was published in 1967 by PWM Edition, featuring a minimalist design with white covers. A total of nine volumes were published up to 1991, with a publication rhythm that correlated to each edition of the quinquennial International Chopin Piano Competition.

After the Revolutions of 1989, the edition was re-evaluated from a market perspective. While the first editions were typeset manually and accompanied by Polish commentary only, the new editions were typeset using SCORE, with bilingual (Polish and English) annotations.

In 1998, Ekier established the Foundation for the National Edition of the Works of Fryderyk Chopin, for fundraising, research, publication and promotion of the National Edition. In 2004, he received a special award from the Minister of Culture of Poland, "in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the preservation and popularization of the legacy of Fryderyk Chopin, in particular for the monumental National Edition of his works, restoring to European culture the art of the great Polish composer in a form closest to its historical original."

The edition was completed in 2010, in time for the bicentenary of Chopin's birth.

Volumes As an urtext, the Chopin National Edition aims to produce a musical text that adheres to the original notation and the composer's intentions. All extant sources were analyzed and verified for authenticity, mainly autographs, first editions with Chopin's corrections and pupils' copies with Chopin's annotations. Necessary editorial decisions are documented in each volume's source commentary. Additionally, a separate performance commentary documents cases where Chopin's notation may be misunderstood by contemporary pianists, such as realizations of ornaments and pedaling.

The Chopin National Edition consists of 36 volumes in two series, for works published during Chopin's lifetime (Series A), and for works published posthumously (Series B). A 37th volume (titled Supplement) consists of compositions partly by Chopin, for instance his contribution to Hexaméron.

+ Series A: Works published during Chopin's lifetimeNo.Cat.Contents1A IBallades2A IIÉtudes3A IIIImpromptus4A IVMazurkas (A)5A VNocturnes6A VIPolonaises (A)7A VIIPreludes8A VIIIRondos9A IXScherzos10A XSonatas11A XIWaltzes (A)12A XIIVarious Works (A)13A XIIIaPiano Concerto No. 1 (for one piano)14A XIIIbPiano Concerto No. 2 (for one piano)15A XIVaConcert works for piano and orchestra (for one piano)16A XIVbAndante spianato et grande polonaise brillante (for one piano)17A XVaVariations on "Là ci darem la mano" (score)18A XVbPiano Concerto No. 1 (historical score)19A XVcFantasy on Polish Airs (score)20A XVdRondo à la Krakowiak (score)21A XVePiano Concerto No. 2 (historical score)22A XVfAndante spianato et grande polonaise brillante (score)23A XVIWorks for Piano and Cello24A XVIIPiano Trio + Series B: Works published posthumouslyNo.Cat.Contents25B IMazurkas (B)26B IIPolonaises (B)27B IIIWaltzes (B)28B IVVarious Works (B)29B VVarious Compositions30B VIaPiano Concerto No. 1 (for two pianos)31B VIbPiano Concerto No. 2 (for two pianos)32B VIIConcert works for piano and orchestra (for two pianos)33B VIIIaPiano Concerto No. 1 (concert score)34B VIIIbPiano Concerto No. 2 (concert score)35B IXRondo in C for two pianos, Variations in D for four hands36B XSongs + Works partly by ChopinNo.Contents37Supplement

Catalogue (WN) The edition provides a new numbering scheme ("WN") for works published after Chopin's death, similar to existing catalogues by Maurice J. E. Brown (B) and Krystyna Kobylańska (KK). Some works have opus numbers assigned after Chopin's death by Julian Fontana, who grouped a number of unpublished piano pieces into eight opus numbers (Op. 66–73), and seventeen songs for voice and piano into a ninth (Op. 74). +WN catalogueWNTitleOp. (Fontana)Completion dateFirst edition1Polonaise in B-flat major181719102Polonaise in G minor181719473Polonaise in A-flat major182119084Polonaise in G-sharp minor182418645Variations in D major for 4 hands1824–182619656Variations in E major182418517Mazurka in B-flat major182618518Mazurka in G major182618519Funeral march in C minor72 No. 21826185510Polonaise in B-flat minor1826188111Polonaise in D minor71 No. 11825–1827185512Polonaise in F minor71 No. 31826–1828 (-29?)185513 Ecossaise in G major Ecossaise in D-flat major Ecossaise in D major 72 No. 2 72 No. 3 72 No. 11826 (1830?)185514Mazurka in A minor68 No. 218271855(op. 4)Sonata in C minor1827/28185115Rondo in C major for 2 pianos731828185516Warianty ("Variants") (Souvenir de Paganini)1829188117Polonaise in B-flat major71 No. 21829185517aMazurka in G major (Song: "Jakież kwiaty, jakie wianki")182918Waltz in E major1829186119Waltz in B minor69 No. 21829185220Waltz in D-flat major70 No. 31829185521"Życzenie"74 No. 1about 1829185722"Gdzie lubi"74 No. 5about 1829185923Nocturne in E minor72 No. 11827(?)–1830185524Mazurka in C major68 No. 11830185525Mazurka in F major68 No. 31830185526Mazurka in G major67 No. 11830 (1835?)185527Contredans1830 (1827?)194828Waltz in A-flat major1829–1830190229Waltz in E minor1830 (?)186830"Poseł"74 No. 71830185931"Czary"1830 (?)195132"Hulanka"74 No. 41830185933"Precz z moich oczu"74 No. 61830185334"Wojak"74 No. 101830185735Polonaise in G-flat major18301869-70 (about 1859?)36[Allegretto]1829–1831199037Lento con gran espressione (Nocturne in C-sharp minor)1830187538"Piosnka litewska"74 No. 161830 (1831?)185939"Smutna rzeka"74 No. 31831185940"Narzeczony"74 No. 151831185941Mazurka in B-flat major1832195342Waltz in G-flat major70 No. 11832185543Cantabile1834195544Presto con leggierezza (Prelude in A-flat major)1834191945Mazurka in A-flat major1834193046Impromptu in C-sharp minor (Fantaisie-Impromptu)66about 1834185547Waltz in A-flat major69 No. 11835185548Mazurka in C major67 No. 31835185549"Leci liście z drzewa"74 No. 171836187350"Pierścień"74 No. 141836185951"Moja pieszczotka"74 No. 121837185952"Wiosna"74 No. 21838185952a"Wiosna" for piano1838199053Sostenuto (Waltz in E-flat major)1840195554"Śliczny chłopiec"74 No. 81841185955Waltz F minor70 No. 21841185256Moderato <Kartka z albumu> (Leaf from the album)1843191257"Nie ma, czego trzeba"74 No. 131845185958"Dwojaki koniec"74 No. 111845185959Gallop Marquis1846-47199060Mazurka in A minor67 No. 41846-47185561"Z gór, gdzie dźwigali" <"Melodia"> (Melody)74 No. 91847185962Nocturne in C minor1847–1848193863Waltz in A minor1847–1849195564Mazurka in G minor67 No. 21848–1849185565Mazurka in F minor68 No. 418491855 (partly) 1965 (full)

Reception Reception of the National Edition has been positive. Paul Badura-Skoda called it "the best available Chopin edition made with extreme care and precision". Jim Samson wrote that "by far the best of the modern editions is Jan Ekier's Polish National. Ekier does work with well thought-through editorial principles and his text comes closer than any other to a faithful reproduction of a single ('best') source." According to Frans Brüggen, the edition "seems to be very trustworthy. Having compared all the different sources available, Professor Ekier was able to make good editorial decisions."

References

Sources

External links

Alphabetical index of works Numbering and chronology of works