mUltimate Chopin

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Errors of FC

b. 12-13

composition: Op. 28 No. 21, Prelude in B♭ major

No slur in FC (→GE)
..

In A, the slur starting in bar 12, last in line, indicates a continuation, but its ending is absent from bar 13. We adopt a natural contextual interpretation in accord with the FE (→EE) version. In FC (→GE), the copyist overlooked this slur like the previous one.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Inaccurate slurs in A , Errors of FC , Uncertain slur continuation

b. 12-13

composition: Op. 28 No. 20, Prelude in C minor

 in A (→FE)

No sign in FC (→GE), AB, ACh & CGS

  in EE
..

The position of the  mark is not strictly determined in A due to the missing musical text in the abridged marking of this bar. We assume the only reasonable solution, adopted in FE (→EE). The mark was omitted in the remaining autographs and overlooked by the copyists. EE arbitrarily added a  asterisk at the end of b. 13, almost certainly against the intention of Chopin – cf. the note to the Prelude No. 7 in A Major, b. 16.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: EE revisions , Errors of FC , Inaccuracies in A , Errors in CGS

b. 12

composition: Op. 28 No. 15, Prelude in D♭ major

c1 in A (literal reading→FE,FC→GE1)

c1 in EE, GE2 (→GE3), FED & FES
..

The version of A (→FE,FC→GE1), without a  before the 3rd quaver in the bar, almost certainly resulted from Chopin's mistake, which is confirmed by the flats he wrote in FED and FES. In FC there is also no  before the 7th quaver, most probably due to an oversight, since in A the accidental is poorly visible due to the crossing-out showing through the page. Admittedly, both flats are visible on the photo of FC; however, they were added there much later by H. Scholtz, which explains the absence of the former in GE1 (the latter was added thanks to the  in the R.H.). The fact that those flats were added later is evidenced by their font (they are clearly bigger than the ones written by Fontana) and by the intensity of blackening, pointing to a pencil.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources; Source & stylistic information

issues: Annotations in teaching copies , EE revisions , Annotations in FED , GE revisions , Omission of current key accidentals , Errors of A , Annotations in FES , Errors of FC , Errors repeated in FE

b. 12

composition: Op. 28 No. 15, Prelude in D♭ major

Separate slurs in A (→FE→EE)

Continuous slur in FC (→GE)
..

The continuous phrase mark of FC (→GE) resulted from an erroneous interpretation of A. Due to reduced ink flow, the endings of phrase marks in A are often very poorly visible, which could have misled the copyist – not seeing them, he assumed that the visible fragments of the phrase marks were supposed to form one phrase mark. 

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Errors of FC

b. 12

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

Accent & staccato dots in A (→FE→EE)

No marks in FC (→GE)
..

The missing accent and staccato dots in FC (→GE) are most probably an oversight of Fontana, particularly since the dots in A are very poorly visible in this bar. In turn, the missing accent could be related to Fontana's conviction that the accents in this theme refer to the R.H. – see the note in b. 4 – hence he did not expect such marks while copying the L.H. part.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Errors of FC