mUltimate Chopin

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Inaccurate note pitch in A

b. 4

composition: Op. 28 No. 14, Prelude in E♭ minor

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The 4th L.H. quaver is written in A slightly to low, so as to be reproduced in FE (→EE1) as d (in spite of a distinct e1 in the R.H.). EE2 corrected the error.

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

issues: EE revisions , Errors in FE , Inaccurate note pitch in A , Errors repeated in EE

b. 13

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

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FE has an erroneous G instead of A as the 3rd quaver. This patent error could have been provoked by an inaccurate placement of this note in A. The mistake was corrected – perhaps by Chopin – in FED.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Annotations in teaching copies , Errors in FE , Annotations in FED , Inaccurate note pitch in A , Inaccuracies in A

b. 15

composition: Op. 10 No 4, Etude in C♯ minor

c2 in AI, literal reading

b1 in FE (→GE,EE)
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Interpretation of the pitch of the 2nd and 3rd crotchets in AI poses difficulties – the note heads are slightly bigger than usually, which suggests performed corrections, yet their result is not clear:

  • on the 2nd crotchet of the bar one can see c2 (more likely) or d2,
  • on the 3rd crotchet one can see c2, yet one also cannot exclude b1.

Taking into account the fact that first three crotchets of the text are written at an each time lower pitch and the phrase development in the published version seems to be so natural thanks to repetitions of the four-note motif, one can suppose that the seemingly different notation of AI is simply erroneous, while in the notation of the 3rd crotchet, two clear errors overlapped – lack of  and inaccurate position of the note head.

As the version of AI we adopt a stylistically acceptable text which imposes itself, while interpreting without detailed analyses and comparisons. 

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

issues: Inaccurate note pitch in A

b. 16

composition: Op. 10 No 9, Etude in F minor

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In AI the minim is written on the level of e1. It is certainly an inaccuracy related to the working nature of the manuscript.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Inaccurate note pitch in A

b. 16

composition: Op. 28 No. 13, Prelude in F♯ major

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The inaccurately written (too low) 1st quaver in the 2nd half of the bar looks like F in A, and it was reproduced as such in FC (→GE1). The fact that Chopin must have meant G is evidenced both by the harmonic context (confirmed by analogous b. 32) and the common Chopinesque manner of writing notes under the 1st line clearly lower and so that they do not touch the line. The mistake of GE1 was corrected in GE2 (→GE3). 

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: GE revisions , Inaccurate note pitch in A , Errors repeated in GE