mUltimate Chopin

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Errors in CGS

b. 5-12

composition: Op. 28 No. 9, Prelude in E major

Slur in bars 5-12 in A (→FE→EE)

Slur in bars 5-8 in FC

Slurs in bars 5-6 & 7-8 in GE

Slur in bars 10-12 in CGS
..

The slur, encompassing the entire L.H. part in these bars, was reproduced incompletely in some sources, while GE reproduced it inaccurately:

  • In FC Fontana overlooked the ending of the slur in the last line of his copy (b. 9-12). Although the slur of FC suggests a continuation at the end of b. 8, GE considered it an inaccuracy and led the slur only to B1 in that bar.
  • Moreover, in GE the issue of combining the slurs in b. 6-7 remains unclear – the slur in b. 6, at the end of the line, may suggest a continuation, which is not confirmed by the slur in b. 7. We assume that they are divided slurs.
  • In CGS the first L.H. slur appears only just in b. 10-12. The beginning of that slur, suggesting a continuation from the previous bar, proves a serious inadvertence of the copyist.

A slur compliant with the notation of A is to be found in FE (→EE) only. 

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in GE , Errors of FC , Errors in CGS

b. 5-13

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

Slurs to C1-C in A (→FC→GE, →FE→EE)

Slurs from 1st beat to C1-C & final chord (after AB)

Slurs from 2nd beat to C1-C & final chord in ACh, literal reading

Slurs from 2nd beat to C1-C in ACh, contextual interpretation

No slurs in CGS
..

In the main text we give the unequivocal phrase marks of A and the remaining sources stemming from it. The later autographs – AB and ACh – convey variants that do not seem to be simply inaccuracies of notation. As regards the longer phrase mark of AB – placed in the original in bars 5-9 of the 9-bar version of the Prelude – we admit it to the basic, 13-bar version as a variant of the slur in bars 9-13.
The phrase marks of ACh underline the beginning of the bass passus duriusculus; they also constitute the latest authentic variant concerning phrase marks in these bars. The ending of the phrase mark in b. 9-12 reaches b. 13, which, according to us, is an inaccuracy; however, when interpreted literally, it results in a variant combining both authentic versions of phrase marks.
The missing phrase marks in CGS must be one of numerous defects of that copy.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources; Editorial revisions; Corrections & alterations; Source & stylistic information

issues: Inaccurate slurs in A , Errors in CGS

b. 5

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

 in A (→FC→GE, →FE→EE), AB & ACh

No marking in CGS
..

As was the case with b. 1, the missing  in CGS is most probably an oversight.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Errors in CGS

b. 9

composition: Op. 28 No. 4, Prelude in E minor

No signs in As & CGS

  in A

  in FC

  in FE (→EE) & GE
..

The arms of the  hairpin in A are of different length; however, in this case it is almost certain that it is the top arm that has to be taken into account – an extension of the bottom arm to the left would make the dots over the L.H. minim blurry. In FC the mark is shorter, and in the editions the range of the mark was adjusted to the group of quavers, which is actually of no significance in this case.
The absence of both marks in CGS is most probably an oversight.
As has no hairpins, and the long accent in the previous bar is the only mark of this type.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Scope of dynamic hairpins , Errors in CGS

b. 11-12

composition: Op. 28 No. 7, Prelude in A major

in A (→FE→EE)

 in bar 11 in FC (→GE)

No sign in CGS
..

We qualify the shorter mark in FC (→GE) and the oversight thereof in CGS as an inaccuracy or a mistake in copying.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in FC , Errors in CGS