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Issues : Long accents

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b. 7

composition: Op. 10 No 5, Etude in G♭ major

Long accent in A (→FE)

Short accent in GE

No mark in EE2

Accent & dots in EE3 (→EE4)
..

EE2 does not have the accent added in EE3 (→EE4) together with staccato dots under the quavers (probably by analogy with bar 15). In GE a short accent was applied and moved over the crotchet. In the main text we preserve the notation of A (→FE).

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Long accents , EE revisions , Placement of markings , Errors in EE , GE revisions

b. 7

composition: Op. 10 No 3, Etude in E major

Accent in A, more likely reading

Less likely reading of A (→FE→GE,EE)
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The accent in the 1st half of this bar may be interpreted as short or long in A. The second possibility is indicated by the even shorter accent in the L.H. in the 2nd half of the bar and by the melodic context.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Long accents

b. 7

composition: Op. 10 No 3, Etude in E major

Long accent in AI & A

Short accent in FE (→GE,EE)
..

The accent in the 1st half of the bar may be interpreted as long or short in A. A clearly longer sign is written also in AI. On the other hand, a comparison with analogous accents in the 2nd half of this bar and in bars 1-2 suggests the second possibility and this is how the sign was understood in FE (→GE,EE). According to us, the context, particularly the harmonic one, can justify distinguishing this note with a longer accent.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness

issues: Long accents

b. 7-10

composition: Op. 25 No 10, Etude in B minor

Long accents in GC & EE

Different accents in FE

Short accents in GE
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Three out of four accents in GC are undoubtedly long accents, the fourth one (in bar 8) may be interpreted as either long or short. In GE they were reproduced as short. EE includes distinct long accents in all these bars, FE – only in bars 9-10, yet the one in bar 7 may also be considered as long. Therefore, it seems that the use of long accents by Chopin is much more likely here. 

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Long accents

b. 7-8

composition: Op. 12, Variations in B♭ major

Accent & in FE (→GE,EE)

Long accents suggested by editors
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Despite the difference in size and positioning of the signs – accent and  hairpin – the musical context indicates that in both cases Chopin probably had a long accent in mind. The notation of such accents was not always precise even in autographs, and inaccuracies in their reproduction by engravers were very common – see e.g. Etude in A minor, Op. 10 No. 2, bars 12 or 25-26.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Editorial revisions

issues: Long accents