Chopin Polonaise in A Flat, Op.53 Manuscript

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Rogerg
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Chopin Polonaise in A Flat, Op.53 Manuscript

Post by Rogerg »

Could someone fluent in French translate the note regarding Clara Wieck on the title page? Thanks.
https://imslp.org/wiki/Special:ReverseLookup/110480
gp469
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Re: Chopin Polonaise in A Flat, Op.53 Manuscript

Post by gp469 »

The first line says "To Madame Clara Wieck."
The handwriting is messy, but I think the second line says "by your admirer," however I could be wrong.

So here is the full message:
[quote]
To Madame Clara Wieck
by your Admirer
Chopin[quote]
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Re: Chopin Polonaise in A Flat, Op.53 Manuscript

Post by Rogerg »

Thanks. This note is dated 1836 but the information about the piece says it was composed in 1842. Maybe 1842 is just the year of publication. If so, it seems odd that he would not have it published for six years after composition. At the top of the first page of music the publishers are listed so this would have been added to the page after it had been published or at least sent to the publishers. The note to Clara Wieck is on a separate page that precedes the first page of music so I'm wondering if this note to her doesn't actually go with this score.
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Re: Chopin Polonaise in A Flat, Op.53 Manuscript

Post by gp469 »

If I remember correctly in often cases Chopin sent Wieck unpublished manuscripts, but she published them later.
This was most likely the case for this music, and similar things happened with a lot of Chopin's posthumous works as well, which were often published by Wieck.
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Re: Chopin Polonaise in A Flat, Op.53 Manuscript

Post by Rogerg »

I wasn't aware of that. That seems as if he was seeking her approval of compositions: whether she thought them worthy of publication. The note about the publishers appears to be in Chopin's hand also so she apparently gave the manuscript back to him after publication.
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Re: Chopin Polonaise in A Flat, Op.53 Manuscript

Post by Rogerg »

Since my last post on this topic I had email correspondence with the Assistant Curator of the The Morgan Library & Museum
where the manuscript score is kept. After some research he informed me that the cover page to Clara Wieck was simply sold along with the manuscript score but was not part of it.
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