mUltimate Chopin

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Errors repeated in GE

b. 6-11

composition: Op. 28 No. 9, Prelude in E major

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As was the case in the Prelude No. 8 in F Minor, Chopin assumed that the middle notes of the triplets did not require an accidental if a respective accidental had been written before a top-voice note placed an octave higher. In A (→FC→FE) and CGS there is not a single out of 8 necessary accidentals –  before c and d in b. 6, g in b. 7, c in b. 9-10, d in b. 10-11 and a  before d in b. 11. The remaining editions added the majority of accidentals; however, none of them features a fully correct text:

  • GE1 added 6 accidentals – the  before c in b. 10 and the  before d in b. 11 were overlooked;
  • GE2 added to them only a  in b. 11;
  • EE1 added 5 accidentals – the  before d in b. 6 and 10 and the  before d in b. 11 were overlooked;
  • EE2 added to them only  before d in b. 6 and 10.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: EE revisions , GE revisions , Inaccuracies in A , Errors repeated in GE , Errors repeated in FE , Errors repeated in EE

b. 6

composition: Op. 28 No. 21, Prelude in B♭ major

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The sources do not contain an accidental before the top note of the third on the 4th quaver in the bar, as a result of which it should be interpreted as e-g. It must be Chopin's inadvertence – the characteristic f(-d1) – e-g – e-a sequence appears 10 times throughout the Prelude (excluding this place), always with g, even when it is preceded by a g-e sixth (in b. 41). Analogous sequences are to be found on a number of occasions also in other harmonic contexts, always with a minor third on the second quaver. Therefore, Chopin was fully entitled to consider the  to be obvious in this place.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Editorial revisions

issues: Omissions to cancel alteration , Errors of A , Errors repeated in GE , Errors repeated in FE , Errors repeated in EE

b. 7

composition: Op. 28 No. 10, Prelude in C♯ minor

Dotted minim in sources

Minim suggested by the editors
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Holding the g note to the very end of the bar, as it was given in A and in all the remaining sources, is inconvenient from the pianistic point of view and practically imperceptible against the trill performed with pedal in the bass. Therefore, it is almost certainly a mistake of Chopin, who did not realize that in this bar – unlike in all analogous ones – the first note of the bar is not a part of the chord on the 3rd beat. 

category imprint: Editorial revisions

issues: Rhythmic errors , Errors of A , Errors repeated in GE , Errors repeated in FE , Errors repeated in EE

b. 7

composition: Op. 63 No. 1, Mazurka in B major

b-c1 in AI, FE2 (→EE) & GE3

c1-d1 in FE1 (→GE1→GE2)
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The c1-d1 second in FE1 (→GE1→GE2) must be a mistake (most probably by the engraver), which is proven by b-c1:

  • present in AI,
  • introduced by Chopin in the stage of proofreading FE2 (→EE),
  • present in all sources in bar 75 (upon repetition of this place).

The correct text of GE3 most probably resulted from the fact that a copy of FE2 was used in the revision.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Errors in FE , GE revisions , FE revisions , Errors repeated in GE

b. 7-15

composition: Op. 63 No. 1, Mazurka in B major

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In bars 7 and 15 the sources do not contain sharps over the mordents. There are no doubts as to the sound of the top note, while the notation is inaccurate, as usual in such situations in Chopin's works (in bar 7 it concerns only AI and GE3 due to the misplaced  mark in the remaining sources). In the versions 'edited text' and in the main text we add the absent accidentals.
There is a similar situation in bar 75.

category imprint: Interpretations within context

issues: Errors in FE , Accidentals in different octaves , GE revisions , Errors repeated in GE , Errors repeated in EE