mUltimate Chopin

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Issues : Embracing slurs

b. 101-102

composition: Op. 29, Impromptu in A♭ major

 
 
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In GE1 bars 101-102 are included under one slur. It is probably a result of misunderstanding of imprecise notation of A, in which the slightly extended beginning of the slur opens the new great stave.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Inaccurate slurs in A , Embracing slurs

b. 157-158

composition: Op. 35, Sonata in B♭ minor, Mvt I

2 slurs in GC (literal reading →GE)

Slur in FE

Slur in GC (contextual interpretation) & in EE
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Taking into account the versions of FE and GC, one may assume that the slur of GC at the end of b. 157 could have been added by Chopin. The aim of that change was undoubtedly a slur encompassing the entire three-quaver motif (as it is 4 bars earlier), which was guessed in EE (the correction could have even been introduced by Chopin in the Stichvorlage for EE). GE reproduced the notation of GC literally, i.e. as coinciding slurs.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in FE , Embracing slurs , EE inaccuracies , Authentic corrections in GC , Uncertain slur continuation

b. 206

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

Slur from 2nd crotchet in A, contextual interpretation

Slur from 1st crotchet in A (incomplete literal reading→FE→GE,EE)
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In A, there are 2 slurs over the L.H. part – one encompassing almost an entire bar and the other starting clearly on the 2nd crotchet (d-b) and ending after the 3rd crotchet, under the first, longer slur and over an extensive deletion and the final version of the 4th crotchet, written below. FE (→GE,EE) included only the top, long slur, interpreting it as a whole-bar slur. According to us, such an interpretation, although graphically correct, is, however, erroneous, since the top slur encompasses the removed initial version of the five-crotchet sequence of fifths and sixths, the beginning of which was written right after the D1-D octave due to corrections. Therefore, if we are to consider the undeleted notes, the beginning of the slur does fall over the octave; however, to avoid misunderstandings, another slur was added, indicating the intended beginning of the slur with respect to the final version of the sequence of dyads. Consequently, in the main text we give a slur encompassing 5 crotchets, which was Chopin's intention both in the initial and the final version of the sequence of dyads. It is also compliant with the slur over a similar figure in the next bar, which is already less problematic.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in FE , Inaccurate slurs in A , Embracing slurs

b. 207-208

composition: Op. 23, Ballade in G minor

Slur to 6th crotchet in A

Slur to bar 208 in FE (→GE,EE)
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Leading the slur as far as to the next bar is a clear misrepresentation of the notation of A by the engraver of FE (→GE,EE), perhaps influenced by the R.H. slur, which does reach the g1-d2 fifth. In the main text we keep the notation of A, in which the slur is written down with a flourish, yet it does not suggest going beyond the bar line.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Embracing slurs , FE revisions

b. 338-347

composition: Op. 31, Scherzo in B♭ minor

Three-note slurs in A (literal reading→FE→EE)

Two- & three-note slurs in FC (→GE1)

Two-note slurs in GE2 (→GE3)
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When interpreted literally, the slurs of A in b. 338-339 & 346-347 seem to be reaching the bass note in the next bar. However, according to us, it is an inaccuracy, a manner of writing slurs significantly going beyond the intended range, cf., e.g. the phrase marks in b. 320 (corrected) & 326 (see also the Mazurka in G Minor, Op. 24 No. 1, b. 21, 23-24). Due to the above reason, in the main text we give pianistically natural slurs, modelled after the ones Chopin wrote in analogous b. 440-441 & 448-449. Such a solution was introduced already in GE2 (→GE3). The first slur of FC (→GE1), which is shorter, is probably accidental: the copyist forgot to put the ending of the slur in a new line of the text.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Inaccurate slurs in A , Embracing slurs , Inaccuracies in FC