mUltimate Chopin

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Errors resulting from corrections

b. 13-32

composition: Op. 28 No. 5, Prelude in D major

Crotchets in A

No crotchets i FC (→GE) & FE (→EE)
..

In each of b. 13-16 and 29-32, Chopin initially separated in A the 3rd and 5th semiquavers (b1-e1 and g1-c1, respectively) as an additional voice consisting of a quaver and a semiquaver: . He then abandoned that voice; he crossed out the beam and the additional stem of the 5th semiquaver. However, he left the additional stem of the 3rd semiquaver; he even prolonged it over the crossed-out beam, which must have meant that the note should be a crotchet. The sense of such corrections was guessed neither by Fontana nor by the engraver of FE.

category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: Errors in FE , Corrections in A , Errors resulting from corrections , Deletions in A , Accompaniment changes , Errors of FC

b. 13

composition: Op. 28 No. 23, Prelude in F major

f1 in A (→FE→EE) & FC (probable reading)

f1-g1 in GE
..

The version of GE resulted from an erroneous interpretation of the illegible correction concerning the pitch of this note in FC – the copyist most probably first wrote g1 and then turned it into f1, as a result of which both the 2nd line and the 1st space are covered. A correction (crossing-out) is also visible in A, in which, however, it almost certainly concerned rhythm – Chopin pondered whether to write the discussed note as a minim.

The pencilled correction of the wrong clef (bass) visible in FC at the beginning of the bar – it opens the line in this manuscript – as well as a possible crossing-out of one of the notes (rather the bottom one, hence f1) on the 2nd L.H. quaver were performed by a later owner of FC, i.e. Hermann Scholtz.

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

issues: Corrections in A , Errors resulting from corrections , Foreign hand additions in manuscripts , Deletions in A , Inaccuracies in FC , Alterations in CF

b. 14

composition: Op. 26 No 2, Polonaise in E♭ minor

..

There are no naturals rising a and d1 to a and d1 in A. Chopin's mistake resulted supposedly from a hasty correction—the composer initially marked the L.H. part in this bar as a repetition of the previous bar, and only after having spotted the diffrence on the 2. quavers of both bars wrote it out in full. The accidentals were added in FE1 and all the subsequent editions.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Errors resulting from corrections , Omission of current key accidentals , Errors of A , Authentic corrections of FE

b. 14

composition: Op. 21, Concerto in F minor, Mvt II

No slur in A (→GE1→GE2,FE→EE1)

Slur b2-b2 in GE1a & EE2 (→EE3)
..

In the 2nd half of the bar GE1 initially included an erroneous slur, running from the b2 crotchet to the next bar (most probably instead of the slur written in A, running from b2). Over time, the traces of removal of the erroneous slur became very visible (cf. another copy of GE1), so that it was already in GE1a that the place was reengraved. However, instead of removing the traces of the original slur, it was replaced with a shorter one, reaching to b2 only. The slur was added also in EE2 (→EE3).

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: EE revisions , Errors resulting from corrections , Errors in GE , Authentic corrections of GE

b. 15

composition: Op. 25 No 4, Etude in A minor

..

The second chord in the R.H. is a crotchet both in the upper and lower voices. Hence the lower voice has 9 quavers in this bar. The error resulted from hastily performed articulation corrections – Chopin would delete the staccato signs written inside the chords, which, in some cases, required rewriting the entire chord; omission of the quaver flag occurred exactly in the last rewritten chord.

category imprint: Source & stylistic information

issues: Errors resulting from corrections , Rhythmic errors , Errors of A