mUltimate Chopin

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Issues : Dotted or even rhythm

b. 1

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

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On the 4th crotchet in the bar, there are equal quavers in MFrorch. It may be the original version, changed by Chopin in FE, or a mistake.

category imprint: Source & stylistic information

issues: Dotted or even rhythm

b. 2

composition: Op. 63 No. 1, Mazurka in B major

g quaver in AI

Semiquaver g in FE (→GE,EE)
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category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: Dotted or even rhythm

b. 3

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

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The d1 and c1 notes on the 2nd beat of the bar are written as quavers in the violas' part. It is the first of a few rhythmic discrepancies of this kind between the orchestral part and the corresponding Chopinesque piano reduction constituting a part of FE – cf. bars 12 and 53. It does not seem that all of them could be attributed to mistakes; there are also no proofs suggesting that Chopin could have been striving for a unified rhythm in those places. Therefore, it suggests that the orchestral parts and the piano reduction were considered independently, to a certain extent, and in a quite surprising aspect.  

category imprint: Source & stylistic information

issues: Dotted or even rhythm

b. 4

composition: Op. 25 No 7, Etude in C♯ minor

Double-dotted rhythm in GC (→GE) & EE

Single-dotted rhythm in FE
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One cannot see traces of performing changes in the rhythm of the top voice in the preserved sources. Moreover, it does not seem that one of the versions could have been erroneous; it is particularly excluded in the case of the rhythm of GC (→GE) and EE, confirmed by the compatible version of all sources in analogous bar 48. Therefore, it seems that the original single dotted rhythm, preserved in FE, was changed by Chopin into the double dotted rhythm in the base text to EE, from where it was copied to GC.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Accompaniment changes , Dotted or even rhythm

b. 7-8

composition: Op. 35, Sonata in B♭ minor, Mvt III

Dotted rhythm in GC (→GE)

Quavers in FE (→EE)
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It is hard to state how the difference in the rhythm on the 1st beat of the bar occurred. The dotted rhythm in GC (→GE) seems to be a mistake of the copyist – the text is written uniformly, moreover, only bar 7 is written out with notes, as a result of which one, possible, mistake could have contributed to the change of the rhythm in both bars. On the other hand, Chopin's proofreading cannot be entirely excluded (a similar situation appears in Allegro de Concert, Op. 46, bar 17). In this situation, in the main text we give the version of FE (→EE), compatible with the unquestionable rhythm of analogous bars 11-12. Rhythmic variants of this type are to be found in numerous works by Chopin.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Errors of GC , Dotted or even rhythm