Output details

Fryderyk Chopin, Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor Op. 21. Published in The Complete Chopin: A New Critical Edition, this volume includes an introductory essay in English, German and French examining historical, analytical and performance-related issues, a detailed and comprehensive critical commentary, and notes on the editorial principles and methodology guiding the Complete Chopin project.

The research underlying Rink's edition of Chopin, F minor Concerto Op. 21 is indicated by the 1500-word essay entitled 'Suggested filiation' in the Critical Commentary. This describes the 'unusually complex' publication process involving three publishers working in different countries, the contexts in which the work appeared, the less-than-transparent relationships between the primary sources (both within and across discrete filiations pertaining to the German, French and English first editions, and involving Chopin's putative working manuscript from 1829-30 and the manuscript copy that he prepared in c.1835), and some of the conundrums surrounding specific musical passages as well as the transmission of source materials more generally. All of this required extensive investigation involvng work over many years. Like other volumes in the series (of which Rink is Editor in Chief), this edition is based on a 'best source' approach, with variants from other authorised sources reproduced adjacent to the music text, in footnotes, or in the Critical Commentary. The slow movement is especially complex in this respect, given the existence of an alternative accompaniment annotated by Chopin in a student's copy for use in solo performance. Extensive text-critical study was required to decipher both this source and the autograph manuscript from c.1835. Some of Chopin's distinctive notation - including long accents - is explained with reference to Rink's other research on the subject, as in the Introduction to the edition, which comprises three sections - 'Genre and genesis', 'Form and design', and 'Performing the Concerto'. In these respects and in the editorial decisions themselves, the volume contains a substantial amount of original research. It also features a new accompaniment for second piano prepared by Rink from the c.1835 autograph as well as the first-edition orchestral parts.