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

 b. 150

	g1(2) & g2 in sources
	g1(2) & g2 suggested by the editors

The comparison of bars 150-153 with the preceding four-bar section (bars 146-149) shows that if it were not for the problematic g²⁽¹⁾ notes at the beginning of bar 150, they would be practically identical, harmonically speaking. This suggests that the  lowering g² to g² was misplaced – it was put before the 7th quaver, yet it should have been put before the 5th quaver. What is more, adopting g²⁽¹⁾ to the discussed place would result in the following sequence of chords: E – E⁷ minor – A minor, which is unnatural in the context of the undisturbed key of E minor in the preceding 4 bars. Therefore, how could such a serious mistake happen? Note that Chopin probably added some accidentals in this fragment after having written the notes – one can tell it because of the lack of space for them – and it is likely that he was doing it backwards, from the end of the page (in bar 152). In this scenario, adding a  to the first g² note he encountered in bar 150 is totally understandable. According to us, we cannot rule out another scenario, in which the composer wrote a flat on the 7th quaver, considering it a cautionary accidental. For while the key of E minor on the 5th quaver could have been obvious to him, g² on the 7th quaver would be completely natural as a note of a dominant seventh chord resolving to the key of A minor in the next bar, and could have prompted Chopin to write a  (the Sonata abounds in figurations based on simple, regular progressions, both diatonic and using altered leading tones).
Chopin also wrote flats lowering g to g disregarding the first g note in bar 152, although in that case it was a patent mistake.

category imprint: Editorial revisions

issues: Omission of current key accidentals, Errors of A

notation: Pitch