mUltimate Chopin

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Accompaniment changes

b. 1-3

composition: WN 37, Lento con gran espressione

c in A1

C in CJ, CK (→CB) & EL
..

The version of the later sources must be a Chopinesque improvement – it is common to encounter bass notes having been lowered by an octave (or an added bottom octave) throughout the work on a piece in his output, e.g. in the Mazurka in C Minor, Op. 50 No. 3, b. 77, 79 and analog. or in the Etude in A Major, Op. 25 No. 1, b. 1. 

category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: Accompaniment changes

b. 1-8

composition: Op. 2, Variations, complete

AsI, contextual interpretation

Remaining sources
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In AsI, the piece begins with an orchestral eight-bar period based on a melodic and harmonic idea different from the published version. Only bars 1 and 8 show any similarity to the final version, the rest form a kind of skeleton of what the soloist then performs in bars 10-15 (this is especially clear in bars 3-6 in comparison with bars 11-14). We consider this original redaction to be the text of AsI and we present it as a unified variant of the entire bars 1-8. In addition, AsI also contains – on the page preceding the regular opening – a record of the later version, although only in the form of a string quintet score. It differs from the sources constituting the basis of the published version (A, GE1 and FE) only in the rhythm of the end of bar 8, which we describe in a separate note and include as a variant of the main text.

category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: Accompaniment changes , Main-line changes

b. 1-5

composition: Op. 2, Variation IV, primitive version

Arpeggios from f1 in AsI, basic version

Arpeggios from f1 in AsI, basic version

Arpeggios from b1, c2, d2 & b1 in AsI, later version, contextual interpretation

Arpeggios from b1, c2, d2 & b1 in AsI, later version, contextual interpretation

Arpeggios from b1, c2, d2 & b1 in A

Arpeggios from b1, c2, d2 & b1 in A
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In bars 1 and 5, in the principal AsI version, the R.H. hemidemisemiquaver figures do not advance in parallel to the semiquavers constituting the melody. In the 1st half of bar 1, Chopin already added an alternative version, close to the later A version. According to us, this version is to be considered a draft of a new idea, containing the default instruction 'and so on and so forth'. This is indicated by analogous bar 17, in which the A version is marked in the form of a similar addition throughout the entire bar. We provide the AsI addition interpreted as such as a variant of the later version in both bars (1 and 5). See also bars 2-6 and 7.

category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: Accompaniment changes

b. 1-5

composition: Op. 2, Variation IV, primitive version

B in AsI

d in A
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In AsI the 4th hemidemisemiquaver figure in bars 1 and 5 is the same as the third one, although the semiquaver ending the passage is different – D instead of B1. Moreover, this semiquaver was changed in the stage of writing AsI, which is proven by the visible corrections to this note in bars 1 and 21. Back then Chopin settled for the correction of the bass line only, since in the stage of writing AsI he would use other intervals than an octave between the last hemidemisemiquaver and the following semiquaver much more frequently than in the final version.

category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations; Source & stylistic information

issues: Accompaniment changes , Corrections of AI

b. 2-6

composition: Op. 10 No 2, Etude in A minor

Triad & fifth in CLI

Triads in Ap & FE (→GE,EE)
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The fifth on the 3rd beat of bars 2 and 6 in CLI is probably the original version. The c1 notes were originally absent also in FE, as in both bars Chopin added them in FEcor. Chopin hesitated in which places to put the cautionary naturals before c1, which can already be seen in FEcor, where before the triad on the 2nd beat of bar 2, a  was written and then deleted. Eventually, FE (→EE2→EE3) has a sign before the triad on the 3rd beat of the bar, which we adopt to the main text in all analogous bars. GE1 (→GE1a) has a  before the 1st triad in both bars, while in the later editions arbitrary additions were also performed in this respect.

category imprint: Differences between sources; Editorial revisions; Corrections & alterations

issues: Cautionary accidentals , Accompaniment changes , Authentic corrections of FE , Uncertain notes on ledger lines