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Op. 49, Fantaisie in F minor

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b. 48-50

composition: Op. 49, Fantaisie in F minor

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The endings of the slurs at the beginning of these bars slightly differ from the natural notation of the remaining analogous places:

  • In A the slur ending in bar 49 is written with a flourish; consequently, its ending reaches quite beyond the initial crotchet. The shape of the slur does not indicate an intentional action, and it did not confuse the engraver of GE. It is difficult to certainly say how Fontana recreated it in [FC] – see below. In our transcripts we do not recreate this patent inaccuracy.
  • In FE such an extension to the slur is visible a bar earlier, in bar 48, perhaps due to the confusion of bars, as long as [FC] recreated Chopin's notation in bar 49.
  • In EE the described extension to the slur is to be observed in both these places, which is either a revision or a mistake.

Both in FE and EE the extended slurs occur in the places in which the next slur begins from the 4th quaver in the bar in these editions, hence we consider them together with the variants concerning the placement of the beginnings of the slurs – see bars 45-59.

category imprint: Differences between sources; Source & stylistic information

issues: EE revisions , FE revisions

b. 49-50

composition: Op. 49, Fantaisie in F minor

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In GE1 3 subsequent pedal markings were overlooked –  marks in bar 49 and 50 and  in bar 50. The mistake was corrected in GE2.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Errors in GE , GE revisions

b. 50-52

composition: Op. 49, Fantaisie in F minor

..

From the middle of bar 50 to bar 52 there is no  raising d1 to d1 in A. The  raising d2 to d2 in bar 52 is also absent. These are patent inaccuracies, typical of Chopin. In GE and FE2 (→EE) all the necessary accidentals were added.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Accidentals in different octaves , GE revisions , Omission of current key accidentals , FE revisions , Inaccuracies in A , Errors repeated in FE

b. 50-51

composition: Op. 49, Fantaisie in F minor

Long accents in A & FE

in GE

Short accents in EE
..

There is no doubt that the marks of A should be interpreted as long accents – all three begin slightly before the crotchets they concern, and they intersect their stems. However, due to the accents' significant length – they reach the 4th quaver in respective halves of bars – in GE they were interpreted as  hairpins and were additionally extended. FE recreated the accents correctly, probably on the basis of [FC], which was less ambiguous. In EE the FE accents were provided with the form of standard, short marks.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Long accents , GE revisions , EE inaccuracies

b. 51-53

composition: Op. 49, Fantaisie in F minor

Pedalling in b. 52-53 in A (→GE) & EE2

Pedalling in b. 52 in FE (→EE1)
..

The origin of the difference in the position of the pedal markings between A and FE is unclear. In A bar 52 is tightly packed, as a result of which the  mark is actually under the rest, whereas it starts at the beginning of the bar. It could have been misinterpreted by the copyist as a pedal change between bars 51-52. If we were to add to it a mistake in the placement of the next  mark, the FE pedalling would come from mistakes. On the other hand, it is pianistically justified and could have been introduced by Chopin – cf. the authentic pedalling of all subsequent appearances of the descending motif consisting of three octaves (bars 153-154, 197-198 and 233-234), in which it always enters against a sound sustained with pedal (pressed earlier). Taking into account the above, in the main text we suggest a variant solution with the A pedalling as the main one.
The change of pedalling in EE2 was undoubtedly influenced by GE1. 

category imprint: Differences between sources; Editorial revisions

issues: EE revisions , Inaccuracies in FE , Authentic corrections of FE