mUltimate Chopin

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Uncertain notes on ledger lines

b. 42

composition: Op. 25 No 5, Etude in E minor

b-e1-g1 in FC (→GE) & EE3

b-c1-g1 in FE

b-c1-e1-g1 in EE1 (→EE2)
..

Determining Chopin's intention, as far as the sound of the grace note chord in the L.H. is concerned, seems to be impossible due to the lack of visible traces of performing changes in the sources. Each of the three source versions can be authentic, yet each of them can be a result of misinterpretation of the manuscript by the engraver or the copyist, as determining the presence of the middle note in a chord written on ledger lines can be very difficult in Chopin's manuscripts – cf. notes to bars 73 and 111 of this etude and, e.g., to the Etude in E major, Op. 10 No. 11, bar 43 or the Waltz in A major, Op. 42, bar 48. In this situation, in the main text we give the chord in the version of the basic source, i.e. FE.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Uncertain notes on ledger lines

b. 42

composition: Op. 64 No 2, Waltz in C♯ minor

g-c1-e1 in As & A (→FE→EE,GE1no2,GE1op→GE2op→GE3op)

g-e1 in AI & GE2no2
..

On the photographs of A available to us, it is impossible to state whether on the 2nd and 3rd beats of the bar there are c1 notes or not. We assume, in accordance with the editions, that the notes are visible in this place, however, on the basis of analysis of all twelve analogous bars, we consider the version with triads to be most probably erroneous. The following scenarios are possible: 

  • accidental merging of note stems with ledger lines, looking like notes;
  • Chopin's erroneous introduction of the original version from the draft;
  • omission of the correction of the original version in A (in analogous bar 58 one can see deletions-corrections of respective crotchets in A) and FE.

Similarly in bars 106 and 170.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Errors in FE , Uncertain notes on ledger lines

b. 43

composition: Op. 10 No 11, Etude in E♭ major

e1 in chord in A

No e1 in FE (→GE,EE)
..

The lack of e1 in the 2nd L.H. chord is most probably due to difficulties in reading A. In Chopin's autographs, internal chord notes placed on ledger lines are often barely visible. This leads to their presence (or lack of) being hard or even impossible to ascertain. Cf. e.g. Etudes in G Op. 10 No 5, bar 15 or in A Op. 10 No 10, bars 76-77.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in FE , Uncertain notes on ledger lines

b. 45

composition: Op. 26 No 1, Polonaise in C♯ minor

 
 
..

In A the c3 quaver at the beginning of the bar is written also as the 1st note of the semiquaver triplet of the bottom voice. In the proofreading of FE1 Chopin replaced it with a rest. The traces of performed changes in print allow to state that the actual proofreading included also a2, which the engraver of FE saw in A (according to us, unjustifiably).

category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: Authentic corrections of FE , Uncertain notes on ledger lines

b. 48

composition: Op. 42, Waltz in A♭ major

Third in FE1, GE & EE

e1 in FE0
..

There is no c1 on the 2nd crotchet in FE0, probably due to a misinterpretation of the autograph. Chopin added this note in FEG (→GE) and in the base texts to FE and EE. 

category imprint: Differences between sources; Source & stylistic information

issues: Uncertain notes on ledger lines