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Op. 12, Variations in B♭ major

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b. 192-194

composition: Op. 12, Variations in B♭ major

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In bar 192 and 194 the sources do not include flats to the 5th, 6th and 8th semiquaver. These are patent inaccuracies, almost certainly repeated after [A]. In the main text we add these flats.

category imprint: Interpretations within context

issues: Accidentals in different octaves , Inaccuracies in FE , Errors repeated in GE , Errors repeated in EE

b. 192-194

composition: Op. 12, Variations in B♭ major

a3 in FE (→GE,EE), literal reading

a3 suggested by the editors
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According to us, the source version in which the last semiquaver in bar 192 and 194, devoid of an accidental, is an a3 is probably erroneous. Chopin omitted a number of necessary flats to c, g and d (even in the case of the first note in a bar, d3 in bar 195) when writing down bars 191-196, in the key of G. This suggests that Chopin considered the notes in this fragments to naturally belong to the key of G; he remembered to provide some of them with flats only from time to time. It is also worth emphasising that an indirect transition of an altered note to its resolution – in this case a3-d3-b3 – is much less frequent than the direct one, which is another argument for a3. In this situation, we consider the absence of an accidental to be a sign that the note belongs to the current key, hence that it is not an altered note, and in the main text we suggest a3.

category imprint: Editorial revisions

issues: Omission of current key accidentals

b. 197

composition: Op. 12, Variations in B♭ major

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In the main text we add cautionary naturals to G1-G.

category imprint: Editorial revisions

b. 197

composition: Op. 12, Variations in B♭ major

d1-e1 & d2-e2 in FE, stereotype interpretation

d1-e1 i d2-e2 in GE & EE
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The accidentals visible in FE next to the chords on the 3rd and 5th quaver are questionable, in spite of the notation being formally correct. All of them are actually superfluous – the sound would not change if they were removed, while the flats to b and b1 are hardly even cautionary accidentals. According to us, all accidentals were accidentally put a note too low, which, after correcting it accordingly, results in the GE and EE version. This is the version, natural and harmonically simplest – an entire bar based on one chord – that we provide in the main text. On the other hand, we consider a version requiring a minimal interference with the notation to be the FE text – with shifted naturals so that they raise e1 and e2 to e1 and e2, which, however, results in a less artful harmonic sequence with a tonally inexplicable d among d in the preceding bars and d on the 6th quaver in the discussed bar.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: EE revisions , Errors in FE , GE revisions

b. 199-202

composition: Op. 12, Variations in B♭ major

No pedalling in FE (→GE,EE)

Our variant suggestion
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Taking into account the homogenous texture in bars 199-202, we consider it unlikely that Chopin would have wanted to apply a different pedalling concept to the subsequent half-bar figures. Therefore, in the main text we indicate the possibility of supplementing pedal markings, taking into account possible extra-musical reasons for the absence of some of them, such as oversights or lack of space.

category imprint: Editorial revisions

issues: Inaccuracies in FE