(Op. 4), Sonata in C minor, Mvt III

  b. 14-15

		f in b. 14 & 2  e in A
		2  e in GE (→FE,EE,IE)
		2  f & 2  e suggested by the editors
		2  f & 2  e, our alternative suggestion 1
		2  f & 2  e, our alternative suggestion 2

The extension of the 8th quaver (e) to a dotted crotchet seems illogical due to the fact that e is repeated as the 10th quaver. Nevertheless, in the main text we keep the A notation, as it is difficult to clearly indicate the mistake Chopin could have committed here. According to us, the following two possibilities are the most likely:

• Chopin wanted e to last longer than a crotchet (which is indicated by the augmentation dot), but he miscalculated the total duration. Therefore, there is only one alternative for , that is a minim, resulting in an audibly perceptible effect at the beginning of the next bar. This type of notation, using a rhythmic value going beyond the bar line, can be found a few times in Chopin's pieces, e.g. in the Preludes in E, Op. 28 No. 19, bars 62-63 and in D, Op. 28 No. 15, bar 19, as well as in the Etude in A, Op. 10 No. 10, bars 1-2.
• Chopin added augmentation dots prolonging crotchets to wrong notes, by mistake, to e instead of f. In this alleged version, based on the above assumption, both crotchets constitute a rhythmically coherent f-e motif in the tenor voice, while on the 7th quaver there is a transitory delay of the fifth of the A chord.

In the main text we add a stem to the f quaver in bar 15, which prolongs it to a crotchet, as in bar 14.
GE (→FE,EE,IE) repeated the Chopinesque version of the prolonged e notes; however, the extension to the f note in bar 14 was omitted, probably by inattention.

Compare the passage in the sources »

category imprint: Differences between sources; Editorial revisions

issues: GE revisions, Rhythmic errors, Errors of A

notation: Rhythm

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