Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53 "Heroic" (Small-Hand Edition)-Frédéric Chopin

Chopin's Heroic Polonaise, Op. 53 (in A-flat major), in 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 Breitkopf & Härtel first edition, as encoded by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, one hand holds more than an octave at 72 instants (20 in the right hand, 52 in the left), by written note lengths, up to 16 semitones. Each such place is a measurement of the printed notes, not a chord that the hand must strike at once. The musical character and texture are preserved while selected hand-size barriers — the stretches beyond a comfortable octave — are redesigned. Apart from the numbered changes, the notes follow the first edition.

Conditions: the measurement holds with the rolls played as designed and grace notes aside. If the keys of the rolled chords are counted as struck at one instant, the right hand holds 12 semitones and the left hand 42. If a grace key is let go 1/8 of a quarter note late, the right hand holds more than 12 semitones at 30 instants. This is a script measurement, not a comfort guarantee. Not measured: fingering, leaps, speed, endurance (the octave passages are fast), and whether the rolls sound natural. Release candidate: not yet played through by a human tester.

- Required reach (keys pressed or held at the same time): one octave or less, by written note lengths, grace notes aside, rolls played as designed (script measurement)

- Hand redistribution: 4 notes played by the other hand (marked r.h. in the score)

- Chord rolls: 54 places — 46 with printed roll signs, 8 with a roll sign added in this edition

- Octave displacement: 12 notes sound one octave higher or lower (bracketed 8va / 8vb)

- Early release: 55 lowest keys of the rolls are let go early while the printed pedal carries them

- Two voices of one hand on the same key: 34 places, where the key is pressed once

- All 12 numbered changes are marked in the score and explained one by one on the 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.

Included: PDF + MusicXML

Source: Breitkopf & Härtel first edition (Leipzig, plate 7002), as encoded by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute (NIFC, CC BY 4.0), compared with scans of the first editions. Edited by PLAYABLE PIANO. The edition changes the NIFC data; the Institute does not endorse it.

First Editions of Fryderyk Chopin's Music, Copyright 2017-2021 The Fryderyk Chopin Institute (https://nifc.pl)

Website: https://chopinscores.org

Digital scores: https://github.com/pl-wnifc/humdrum-chopin-first-editions

License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Original composition: public domain. Arrangement and editorial material © 2026 PLAYABLE PIANO.