mUltimate Chopin

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Omitted correction of an analogous place

b. 46-47

composition: Op. 50 No. 3, Mazurka in C♯ minor

Two-bar long pedal in AF (→FE→EE)

2 pedals in GE
..

The pedalling of AF (→FE→EE) was deliberate at the time when it was being written – Chopin crossed out the  at the end of b. 46. However, he did not repeat this version in any of the analogous pairs of bars (b. 54-55, 78-79 and 86-87), which may mean that he then forwent the two-bar pedal in those places. Therefore, in the main text we give the pedalling of the principal source, i.e. GE.

category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: Corrections in A , Chopin's hesitations , Deletions in A , Omitted correction of an analogous place

b. 48

composition: WN 37, Lento con gran espressione

..

The last note of the 1st semiquaver triplet is written in A1 as c3. This puzzling notation – later in the sequence, a respective note an octave lower is already written as d2 (without the necessary , which is a typical Chopinesque inaccuracy) – was initially also in b. 15, in which it was, however, changed by Chopin. Since all the sources coming from [A2] feature d3, we consider the presence of c3 to be an overlooked correction of one of the analogous places (a phenomenon known from many other pieces by Chopin), hence we reproduce this notation only in the graphic transcription of A1.

In the remaining sources the notation is enharmonically homogeneous, yet also inaccurate – none of the sources includes the  in the last triplet of the bar; in CJ and CK it is also the  lowering d3 to d3 that is missing, whereas in CB there are no naturals in this bar.
Similar inaccuracies concern the notation of e2 – in CJ, CK and EL there is no  before this note.

category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: Omitted correction of an analogous place , Inaccuracies in JC

b. 48

composition: Op. 44, Polonaise in F♯ minor

Chord with b1 in GE & FE (→EE)

Chord without b1 suggested by the editors
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The chord with an additional b1 note we encounter in the sources is most probably Chopin's mistake, which is supported by the following arguments:

  • there are no musical reasons to differentiate b. 48 and 281 from b. 22, 74 and 307, in which GE and FE (→EE1) feature chords with three sounds;
  • In [A] Chopin wrote a four-note chord with b1 only once in b. 48, since b. 268-310 were certainly marked in an abridged manner as a repetition of b. 35-77;
  • b1 is necessary a bar earlier (b. 21 and anal.) to clearly mark a dominant seventh chord following Bin the preceding bar;
  • an erroneous repetition of the beginning of b. 47 or removal of the b1 note only in b. 22 and 74 (disregarding b. 48) constitute highly likely mechanical causes of the mistake.

Taking into account the above, in all five places we give a chord without b1. In EE2 (→EE3) an inverse revision was performed, i.e. all the discussed places include a four-note chord.

category imprint: Editorial revisions

issues: Omitted correction of an analogous place

b. 49

composition: Op. 28 No. 19, Prelude in E♭ major

g in A (→FC→GE1, →FE→EE)

b in GE2 (→GE3)
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The main text – the 8th g quaver – comes from A (→FC→GE1,→FE→EE). However, the analysis of the corrections visible in A in the final section of the Prelude leads to the conclusion that it may be the uncorrected initial version and that the intended note was a b, like in analogous b. 57. Chopin changed the pitch of the middle triplet notes in 12 places in b. 49-66, out of which 6 times from g to b in the broken E major chord. In this situation, it is likely that the first bar of this section remained uncorrected inadvertently (Chopin would overlook a correction in one of a few similar places on a number of occasions – see, e.g. the Prelude in F Minor No. 8, b. 17).
Therefore, the version of GE2 (→GE3) with b may be considered an equal variant. 

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

issues: GE revisions , Omitted correction of an analogous place

b. 50-51

composition: Op. 11, Concerto in E minor, Mvt I

3-note slur in Atut (→FE→GE1→GE2)

4-note slur in EE & GE3
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The shorter slur in Atut (→FE→GE1→GE2) is the original marking. Initially, both slurs in the previous figure also encompassed the groups of three quavers only; however, they were then prolonged by Chopin. The slur in the L.H. in the discussed bars, written last, already encompasses the entire four-note motif. The fact of leaving the slur in the R.H. without extension must be the composer's inadvertence.  

category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: EE revisions , Corrections in A , GE revisions , Omitted correction of an analogous place