(PWM). All of the Polonaises included in this volume were written during
Chopin's childhood and youthful years, through to the earliest of the
Polonaises prepared personally for printing by the composer (op. 22 and
26). This strict division into two groups has no correlation with other
Chopin categories: Mazurkas or Waltzes not published by Chopin came into
being during his entire period of creative activity at the same time as
those he made for publication. Both groups of Polonaises complement each
other in a particular way, together giving an understandable
cross-section of the whole of Chopins creativity from Polonaise B WN1,
being his first surviving compositional attempt for the
Polonaise-Fantasy op.61, which belongs to the group of masterpieces
crowning his last creative period. The collective publication of his
Polonaises till now, which present them in the order of finding and
publication gives, from this perspective, a totally chaotic impression.
from source commentary . Includes Polonaises: in B flat major, G minor,
A flat major, G sharp minor, D minor, F minor, B flat minor, G flat
major. The National Edition of the Works of Fryderyk Chopin Published by
PWM Exclusively Distributed by Hal Leonard Corporation Co-Editors Jan
Ekier and Pawel Kaminski The objective of the National Edition is to
present Chopin's complete output in its authentic form, based on the
entire body of available sources. Sources were analyzed with up-to-date
scientific and musicological methodology. The National Edition was based
on sources originated from the composer, mainly autographs, copies of
autographs and first editions with the composer's corrections, and
pupils' copies with Chopin's annotations. In cases when original sources
were lacking, the closest possible materials were used. Collecting the
source materials was a laborious task which took years of effort. The
characteristics of sources, the links and discrepancies between them as
well as the reasons for particular editorial decisions are discussed in
the Source Commentary in each volume. The Performance Commentary
appended to each volume includes: the realization of ornaments, comments
on pedal markings (the original markings sometimes are inadequate, due
to the difference in sound between pianos used in Chopin`s times and
modern pianos), suggestions as to the "harmonic legato" (a performance
technique often used by Chopin and now forgotten). About the National
Edition Full Introduction to the Polish National Edition of the Works of
Fryderyk Chopin
