Op. 63 No. 3, Mazurka in C# minor

First French edition based on a lost autograph [A]. It was corrected by Chopin, which is evidenced by the visible traces of changes, e.g. a remaining part of a stem between c and b in the L.H. in bar 24. Since GE1 has the earlier version, the proofreading of FE1 probably had two phases, only the first of which was included in GE1.

It is also confirmed by a comparison of FE1 with GE1 – in aforementioned bar 24 in GE1 there is a b quaver (with a stem, whose traces are present in FE), hence an earlier version of the text, which must have been changed later in FE.

In spite of corrections, FE1 contains some inaccuracies and mistakes:

• uncertain continuation of the slur in bars 23-24 due to the transition to a new page,
• the overlooked continuation of the slur between the lines in bars 28-29,
• imprecise notation of the slur between bars 38-39,
• no  lowering G to G in bar 44,
• no  raising f¹ to f¹ in a L.H. chord in bar 62 – a mistake that was probably present already in [A],
• overlooked pedal release marks in bars 62 and 65,
• the overlooked continuation of the slur between the lines in bars 65-66,
• mistake in the theme melody – f¹ instead of g¹ on the 1st beat of bar 69,
• vague notation of the slur in bars 71-72 – uncertain continuation of the slur in a new line,
• inaccurately marked pedalling in bars 72-74, perhaps caused by lack of space at the bottom of the page,
• a pause only in the R.H. part in bar 74.

Apart from the above-mentioned correction in bar 24, not included in GE1, the last-phase corrections of FE1 can be suspected in the following cases:

As we know that GE1 was based on a proof copy of FE1, a comparative analysis of both sources points to places which one could assume were corrected by Chopin. One of these places is aforementioned bar 24. In addition, similar assumptions can be made in the case of the following bars:

• bar 33 – in GE there is no sotto voce, which, naturally, could have been an oversight by the German engraver; however, it is equally likely that Chopin added it later;
• bar 36 – the missing mordent in GE is probably an oversight, although even in this case one cannot rule out that it was added in the last stage of proofreading FE1;
• bar 57 – the absence of c¹ in the L.H. chords in GE is most probably an oversight by the engraver of FE1, repeated by GE;
• bar 75 – the  restoring f on the 3rd beat, absent from GE1, must have been added in the last stage of proofreading FE1, for there was not enough space left for it.