mUltimate Chopin

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Chopin's hesitations

b. 6-7

composition: Op. 63 No. 2, Mazurka in F minor

As version

FE (→GE,EE) version
..

Chopin decided to publish bar 7 – together with the last quaver in bar 6 – in a changed version with respect to the notation of As. However, according to us, it is uncertain which version was earlier, since the notation of As suggests that corrections were being made to the first version:

  • it seems that the natural at the end of bar 6 was added later,
  • the 1st quaver in bar 7 could have been changed from g1 to a1,
  • it seems that the 2nd quaver was added in between the adjacent ones,
  • the flag and it having been slashed in the a1 grace note seem to have been added to the stem of a normal quaver (penultimate in the initial version).

If all the above assumptions proved to be true, it would turn out that it was the final version that was entered first (except the enharmonically equivalent notation of the 2nd quaver in bar 7,  g1 instead of a1). Therefore, it would be a very clear example of Chopin's hesitation.

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

issues: Chopin's hesitations , Main-line changes

b. 7

composition: Op. 2, Variation IV, primitive version

e1-c1 in AsI

c1-a in A
..

In the 1st half of the bar, the L.H. part bears traces of corrections in AsI. While working on this manuscript, the initial version:  was ultimately replaced by the one we give in our transcription. Chopin then once more changed the 2nd and 3rd hemidemisemiquavers in the 1st figure of the bar; in A he returned to the initial version. 

category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: Chopin's hesitations , Accompaniment changes , Corrections of AI

b. 8-24

composition: Op. 64 No 2, Waltz in C♯ minor

c1 ×3 in As, 1st version, probable reading

d1 ×3 in As, 2nd version, contextual interpretation

d1-d1-c1 in As, 1st version, possible reading,
or
d1-d1-c1 in AI

d1-c1-c1 in A (→FE→GE,EE)
..

In bar 8 the version of the R.H. adopted by us as the text of As (written in the main course of the text's line of As) is partially hypothetical, since the 1st quaver is blurred, whereas in the second the bottom note is unclear. One can consider the version of AI (excluding the rhythm) to be an alternative interpretation of this notation. The second of the given versions of As is written over the R.H. and under the L.H. of the first, probably with an intention to choose one of them later. In the version prepared for print, Chopin opted for an intermediate version in the R.H., in which d1 appears only in the 1st quaver, while in the L.H. he returned to the original version. The absence of  before d1 in the alternative version of As is a patent inaccuracy – the sign is in the previous bar.

In bar 24 all sources feature the same versions as in bar 8.

category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: Chopin's hesitations

b. 8-9

composition: Op. 50 No. 1, Mazurka in G major

c1 repeated in Afrag & GE, possible interpretation of FE1 (→EE)

c1 tied in A1 (→contextual interpretation of FE1)

No c1 in FE2
..

It seems that Chopin abandoned the tie of c1 – in analogous b. 32-33 the tie is absent in all the sources, while in GE it is absent in all three analogous places (b. 8-9, 32-33 and 64-65). The absence of the tie in Afrag can be explained twofold (unless it is simply an oversight):

  • as testimony to Chopin's hesitation, if we consider this autograph to be earlier than A1;
  • as confirmation of abandonment of that tie, if it was written at a time when A1 had already been prepared.

In FE1 (→EE) the tie was reproduced erroneously in b. 9 – such mirror images of marks can often be found in Chopin's pieces, e.g. in the Concerto in F Minor, Op. 21, 3rd mov., b. 172-173. The erroneous tie was removed in FE2; however, the correct one was not added – it may be seen as Chopin's proofreading and another argument for abandoning the tie of that note (the issue of presence of the c1 note in FE2 at the beginning of b. 9 – see the next note).

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Errors in FE , Chopin's hesitations , Authentic corrections of FE , Errors repeated in EE

b. 8-9

composition: Op. 50 No. 3, Mazurka in C♯ minor

New slur from 2nd quaver in AI & GE

New slur from 1st quaver in AF, literal reading

Overlapping slurs in FE (→EE)
..

In AF both the ending of the slur in b. 8 and the beginning of the slur in b. 9 are written inaccurately, as a result of which each of the given versions may be considered an interpretation of this notation. According to us, the latter is to be interpreted as beginning from the 1st quaver of the bar, which is indicated by the similar yet more accurate versions of notation of AI and AF in analogous b. 100-101 (in AF the version prior to combining the slurs). To the main text we adopt the version of FE, perhaps proofread by Chopin (the first slur having been extended). The version of AI and GE may be considered an equal variant.

category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: Inaccurate slurs in A , Chopin's hesitations , Authentic corrections of FE