The Complete Chopin: A New Critical Edition, published by Edition Peters, has been developed by leading Chopin scholars John Rink (Editor-in-Chief), Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger, Christophe Grabowski and Jim Samson.
The Chopin edition of choice for every serious pianist’s library, The Complete Chopin is based on two key premises: 1) there can be no definition version of Chopin’s works, as variants form an integral part of the music; and 2) a conflation of several sources, producing a version of the music that never really existed, should be avoided.
The editors’ procedure is therefore to identify a single principal source for each work and to prepare an edition of that source. At the same time, important variants from other authorized sources are reproduced either adjacent or within the main music text, in footnotes or in the Critical Commentary.
In the video below – an Introduction to The Complete Chopin: A New Critical Edition – Editor-in-Chief John Rink brings the editions to life, giving a ‘behind the scenes’ view of the editorial process and also providing some fascinating insights into the primary criteria in judging pianists in the Chopin Competition. (John Rink is also a regular member of the Jury for the International Chopin Competition, Professor of Musical Performance Studies in the Cambridge Faculty of Music, and Fellow and Director of Studies in Music at St John’s College, Cambridge.)
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