mUltimate Chopin

Op. 28 No. 12, Prelude in G♯ minor

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b. 12

composition: Op. 28 No. 12, Prelude in G♯ minor

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This bar was entirely crossed out in A and rewritten on adjacent staves – the R.H. above the crossing-out, while the L.H. – below. In the readable initial version, the regular steps of the R.H. quavers and the position of the 1st L.H. chord are preserved, while the f1 notes are written enharmonically as e1: . The corrections had been performed before the performance marks were introduced – the crossed-out version did not contain the following elements: accent, staccato dots, phrase mark, dashes marking the range of crescendo and pedalling marks. The  restoring b1 on the 3rd beat of the bar was also missing.

category imprint: Corrections & alterations; Source & stylistic information

issues: Omissions to cancel alteration , Corrections in A , Deletions in A , Accompaniment changes , Enharmonic corrections , Main-line changes

b. 13

composition: Op. 28 No. 12, Prelude in G♯ minor

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In the main text we add cautionary sharps before f1 and d2. The former was also added in EE.

category imprint: Differences between sources; Editorial revisions

issues: EE revisions

b. 15

composition: Op. 28 No. 12, Prelude in G♯ minor

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The bottom note of the R.H. bottom voice on the 2nd crotchet is written too low in FC, as a result of which in GE1 it was interpreted as an e1. The patent mistake was corrected in GE2 (→GE3).

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: GE revisions , Errors of FC , Errors repeated in GE

b. 17

composition: Op. 28 No. 12, Prelude in G♯ minor

d1 in A (→FC,FE→EE) & GE2 (→GE3)

e1 in GE1
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The version of GE1 must result from the engraver's mistake.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Errors in GE , GE revisions

b. 23

composition: Op. 28 No. 12, Prelude in G♯ minor

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The  – added in FC most probably in pencil – lowering c2 to c2 is a later addition of H. Scholtz. It should be emphasized that it is highly unlikely that Chopin could have overlooked that  – such an oversight of an accidental defining the sound of a newly introduced key is absolutely uncommon in Chopin's music, let alone in the discussed place, since Chopin took care of precise notation by signalizing the return of g1 with a cautionary sharp, as it was g1 that was present in a few previous bars. Scholtz introduced the version with c2 – completely arbitrary – in the edition of the Preludes that he edited (Peters, Leipzig 1879); it was also popularized by certain later collective editions, e.g. edited by one of Chopin's pupils, Karol Mikuli (Kistner, Leipzig 1879) as well as by a few 20th-century urtexts (!). The reason could have been to avoid the cross-relation of c2 in b. 23 with c1 in b. 24; however, according to us, it is too weak an argument to interfere with the Chopinesque notation to such an extent. See also the note in the next bar.

category imprint: Source & stylistic information

issues: Foreign hand additions in manuscripts