mUltimate Chopin

Op. 12, Variations in B♭ major

Text Compare Notes Sources Description
Select: 
Category
All
Graphic ambiguousness
Interpretations within context
Differences between sources
Editorial revisions
Corrections & alterations
Source & stylistic information
Notation
All
Pitch
Rhythm
Slurs
Articulation, Accents, Hairpins
Verbal indications
Pedalling
Fingering
Ornaments
Shorthand & other
Importance
All
Important
Main
Undo Clear

b. 12

composition: Op. 12, Variations in B♭ major

..

In FE the  to the 11th semiquaver is missing, which is almost certainly an oversight, typical of Chopin. It was added both in GE and EE.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: EE revisions , Omissions to cancel alteration , GE revisions , Errors repeated in FE

b. 13

composition: Op. 12, Variations in B♭ major

Quaver g in FE (→GE,EE)

Additional crotchet suggested by editors
..

In the main text we suggest prolonging the sound of the g tone on the basis of the following analysis and the rhythmic values and articulation of the bass notes in bars 7-14. Chopin indicated that the bass notes should be extended in the following ways:

  • with pedal in bars 7-8 and 11-12 and on the last beat of bar 13; the respective quavers are then provided with wedges;
  • by prolonging the rhythmic values in bar 9 and 13-14.

There are two exceptions: bar 10, in which wedges without pedal probably resulted from a misinterpretation of [A], and the discussed place, which is devoid of both longer rhythmic values and pedal, which we consider an oversight, by Chopin or by the FE engraver.

category imprint: Editorial revisions

b. 13

composition: Op. 12, Variations in B♭ major

Staccato dot in FE (→EE)

No mark in GE
..

Slurs encompassing a group of notes, the first of which is provided with a staccato sign, are not uncommon in Chopin's works. However, such situations appear most often in accompaniments performed by the LH – see e.g. bars 157-162 – in which the staccato signs emphasize the bass line*. In the discussed place, there is no reason for using such an unobvious combination of markings, so we consider the dot under the a1 quaver to be an error. See also b. 123.

* In the Ballade in F minor, op. 52, this type of combination of staccato and slur in the melodic voice appears in the autograph in bars 11, 15 and analog. However, sources based on other, lost autographs have different markings.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in FE , GE revisions

b. 15

composition: Op. 12, Variations in B♭ major

..

In the main text we include the cautionary  to e2, added in GE2.

category imprint: Differences between sources; Editorial revisions

issues: GE revisions

b. 16-17

composition: Op. 12, Variations in B♭ major

No slur in FE (→GE,EE)

Slur suggested by the editors
..

It seems unlikely that the absence of a slur over the three-note descending chromatic motif could have been related to a change in articulation. Therefore, in the main text we suggest a slur filling the gap in the coherent phrasing in the adjacent bars.

category imprint: Editorial revisions