One can ponder whether the little slur running from the grace note should not be written here as an arpeggio, same as in the graphically similar situation in the R.H. According to us, in this context both ways of interpretation – an arpeggio comprising three notes or a grace note and a fifth – are possible, although we consider the version with the grace note to be more likely. Due to this reason, we preserve the graphical shape of the notation of GC (in this case probably closest to [A]), as contrary to the unambiguous notation with the sign of arpeggio it allows for a double interpretation. Both the inaccurate notation of FE (→EE) and the routinely revised version of GE practically eliminate the possibility of interpreting Chopin slur as an arpeggio.
A chord made up of an octave and a fifth is often to be found in Chopin's works. Sometimes it is written as an arpeggio chord (e.g., in the endings of the Etude in A
major, Op. 25 No. 1, Impromptu in C
minor, WN 46, Impromptu in G major, Op. 51) or as a grace note and a fifth (e.g., in the ending of the Prelude in G minor, Op. 28 No. 22).
Compare the passage in the sources »
category imprint: Differences between sources
issues: Inaccuracies in FE, GE revisions
notation: Ornaments