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3 slurs in A, literal reading |
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Generally, the A slurs do not raise any concerns; however, they should be carefully evaluated for possible inaccuracies. It is already the first slur in bar 199 that attracts our attention in this respect – in a different context, such a beginning of the slur, reaching so far out, could be misleading. The beginning of the third slur is also questionable – when interpreted literally, it starts from the crotchet in bar 201, yet a comparison with an analogous situation in bars 216-217 reveals that Chopin most probably meant a slur starting from the preceding semiquaver. This is the interpretation of the A slurs (contextual, compliant with the natural division into motifs and adopted by GE) that we give in the main text.
On the other hand, the authenticity of the FE continuous slur is questionable if we take into account that similar long slurs are to be seen in FE in a few other places, in which their musical accuracy is highly problematic – cf. bars 240-241. On the other hand, the situation in bars 77-84 makes us include a possibility in which the FE slurring, in spite of likely inaccuracies further on (see below and bars 204-205), could be an alternative, authentic version of phrasing. One of such patent inaccuracies is the situation between bars 201 and 202 – the slur in bar 201, at the end of a page, suggests that it should be continued, which is not confirmed by the beginning of the slur in bar 202. In our transcription we interpret this situation as a continuous slur, as it was already done in EE.
Compare the passage in the sources »
category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources
issues: Inaccuracies in FE, Inaccurate slurs in A, Uncertain slur continuation
notation: Slurs