Polonaise in A major, Op. 40 No. 1 "Military" (Small-Hand Edition)-Frédéric Chopin

Chopin's Military Polonaise (Polonaise in A major, Op. 40 No. 1), redesigned for pianists with smaller hands: the PLAYABLE PIANO Small-Hand Edition (release candidate).

This is not a simplified or beginner arrangement. The goal is to preserve the original musical character, texture, and difficulty while redesigning selected physical hand-size barriers.

In the first edition, one hand presses or holds more than an octave at 46 instants (right hand 26, left hand 20), measured by script on the written note lengths; the encoded maximum span is 15 semitones. This edition has 11 numbered small-hand changes. The musical character and texture are preserved while selected hand-size barriers — the stretches beyond a comfortable octave — are redesigned.

- Required simultaneous reach: one octave or less, measured by script on the written note lengths (not a comfort guarantee). Two conditions: (1) the grace note E5 at bars 16 and 96 must be released before D4 A4 D5 sounds; otherwise the right hand reaches 14 semitones (timing note 16); (2) the B3 moved to the right hand by change 1 (bars 2, 18, 82, 98) must be released when C#4 C#5 sounds

- Hand redistribution: 4 places (change 1, bars 1, 17, 81, 97; the right hand plays B3)

- Octave displacement: 20 notes sound one octave higher or lower (bracketed 8va / 8vb; changes 4–7, 9, 10)

- 10 notes printed in brackets are not played (changes 2, 3, 8, 11)

- No rolls, no lifts, no editorial pedal

- All changes are marked in the score and explained on its Editorial Changes page

Designed for pianists who can handle the musical and technical demands of the original work, but are limited by selected stretches beyond a comfortable octave.

PLAYABLE PIANO

We don't make hard music easy.

We make it more playable for smaller hands.

Source: Breitkopf & Härtel first edition (plate 6331), as encoded by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute (NIFC, CC BY 4.0), compared with scans. Edited by PLAYABLE PIANO.

Included: PDF + MusicXML