Op. 31, Scherzo in B♭ minor

 b. 118-124

	4 different accents in A
	4 short accents in FC (→GE)
	3 different accents in FE
	3 short accents in EE
	4 long accents, our alternative suggestion

It is difficult to assume that Chopin would have wanted to differentiate between the types of accents in b. 118, 120, 122 and 124 in this coda, virtuoso fragment. Nevertheless, the markings in A are clearly different: b. 118 and 124 feature long accents, whereas b. 120 and 122 – short. A comparison with analog. b. 250-256 does not bring any explanation, since the differences there are even more pronounced, e.g. the mark in b. 252 reaches the middle of the bar, whereas in b. 256 it is one of the shortest accents in the entire Scherzo. Moreover, it can be observed that the accents do not repeat in analogous bars, both within one eight-bar section and between them:

• the first time the tonic passages are provided with a long and short accent and the second time – a short and long;
• the first time the dominant passages are provided with a short and long accent and the second time – a long and short.

Therefore, it could have been extra-musical factors that influenced the size of the marks, e.g. attention to the manuscript's clarity. In fact, bigger marks generally coincide with slurs or stave; therefore, Chopin could have been trying to write them very clearly, so that they are visible among other lines. The third time, in b. 709-715, all sources are devoid of accents.

The differences in the length of the accents were ignored by Fontana: FC (→GE) features 4 short accents. In the light of what was said at the beginning, this solution seems to be reasonable, and we adopt it to the main text. We suggest 4 long accents as an alternative solution. FE reproduced the notation of A, except for b. 124, in which the accent was overlooked. EE also features three accents; however, EE used short accents only.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources; Editorial revisions

issues: Long accents, Errors in FE, EE inaccuracies, Inaccuracies in FC

notation: Articulation, Accents, Hairpins