Main text
Main text
½A - Semi-autograph
A - Autograph of the piano part
Morch - Manuscript of the orchestra part
GE - German edition
GE1 - First German edition
GE1a - Retouched impression of GE1
GE2 - Second German edition
FE - French edition
FE1 - First French edition
FE2 - Corrected impression of FE1
FED - Dubois copy
FEJ - Jędrzejewicz copy
FES - Stirling copy
EE - English edition
EE1 - First English edition
EE2 - Revised impression of EE1
EE3 - Corrected impression of EE2
compare
  b. 187

b1 in A & GE2

c2 in GE1

e1-c2 in FE (→EE)

The b1 note on the 5th quaver of the bottom note is written in A a little bit too low, so that it can be interpreted as a1. The correctness of b1 is confirmed by parts of oboes and clarinets in Morch as well as by analogy with the previous bar, in which the harmonic sequence – written a fifth higher (in top voices) – is almost identical.
In this situation, the version of GE1 with c2 must be considered erroneous and the mistake could have been caused by the inaccuracy of the notation of A – c2 could have been erroneously written a1 (Terzverschreibung error).
In the proofreading of FE (→EE), c2, adopted from GE1, was also completed with e1. The correction may have been introduced by Chopin himself and one can ponder whether it might signalise an intention of replacing the original version of ½A. According to us, however, it is more likely that Chopin corrected only the erroneous version of GE1 with its empty sound G-g-c2-g2 (it should also be mentioned that even in the case of an authentic proofreading of print, there is always a possibility of its inaccurate or erroneous implementation).
Therefore, considering the status of the change introduced in FE to be uncertain, in the main text we preserve the original version of A, more pianistically convenient and above all compliant with the sound of the orchestra written in Morch and unchanged in the orchestral voices published on its basis.

Compare the passage in the sources »

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: Errors in GE, GE revisions, Authentic corrections of FE

notation: Pitch

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