Sonically and pianistically speaking, both versions are equal. Therefore, at first glance, it is not obvious why Chopin should have abandoned the idea of repeating the chord unchanged, as it is in all analogous places (the omission of the bottom note at the end of bar 248 results from the high position of the L.H. figuration). On the other hand, the A version is not a mistake that occurred at the stage of writing this manuscript – all chords in this bar were planned in this form by the writing person, which is evidenced by the difference in the level at which the ledger lines are placed – in the chords without b, they are placed lower than in the previous ones, hence there is no space for writing this note. However, this fact does not completely rule out Chopin's possible mistake, as it could have happened earlier, in the draft autograph (lost), e.g. while introducing possible corrections. In the main text we keep the A version, as Chopin could have wanted to refer to the chord between bars 149-150. The version of the editions, which does not differ from the remaining analogous fragments in terms of regularity, can be considered an acceptable variant.
Compare the passage in the sources »
category imprint: Differences between sources
issues: GE revisions, Errors of A
notation: Pitch
