WN 55, Waltz in F minor

  b. 52

		No repeat in AO & CC, crotchet A in L.H.
		No repeat in AK, minim A in L.H.
		No repeat in AE (→CX) & AR, 3 beats in bar
		2nd part of Waltz repeated in AG (→CY)
		Entire Waltz repeated in FC
		Entire Waltz repeated in PE
		Entire Waltz repeated in FEF & GEF, tied a-c1 & c2 in first volta

In the sources, there are three possibilities of performing the Waltz:

1. Variant without repetition of the second part in AO, AR, AE, AK, CC, with minor differences between the sources:
- in AE, the last bar has three beats, in spite of using an upbeat: in the R.H., there is an A dotted minim, in the L.H. - a crotchet rest on the 3rd beat
- in AR, in the R.H. there is an A dotted minim (like in AE); however, there is no 3rd beat in the L.H. - in the editorial version, we add a crotchet rest there, since it is the only version of the Waltz written without upbeat 
- in AK, there is an A minim on the 1st beat in the L.H. - it is highly likely that AO also featured an A minim on the 1st beat in the L.H., which Chopin then changed to a crotchet
- both in AO and AG, there is an unspecified crossing out after the minim in the R.H. - one can assume that there had been either a dot extending the a¹ minim or a crotchet rest. Chopin most probably wrote the R.H. with three beats first (such an order of entering the text is confirmed by, e.g. bars 33-35, crossed out in AE) and then, while adding the L.H., he corrected it to two bears, taking into account the upbeat written in those versions.

2. Variant with repetition of the second part in AG. The repetition is marked inaccurately; the mark opening the repetition is written before the 3rd crotchet in the 2nd volta; however, there is no repeat sign at the end of the piece - we add it in the editorial version. See bar 20.

3. Variant with repetition of the entire Waltz in F with two notation options:

- two codas at the end of the piece and segno in FC and PE; in FC, there is an additional verbal indication: Dal Segno under the 1st volta and Fine next to the 2nd volta. In PE, the starting point of the repetition was marked at the beginning of the 1st bar; we assume that it was similar in FC (missing first page)
- repetition written out with notes in FEF and GEF: in order to present a comprehensible comparison of sources, we change it to a version with two voltas, like in PE

There are minor differences between the F sources:
- in FC, there is an A minim (without dot) on the 1st beat in the L.H. - the remaining sources feature a dotted minim
- the 2nd volta has 3 beats in FC, GEF and FEF - in the L.H. and R.H. minims on the 1st beat and rests on the 3rd beat
- the 2nd volta has 2 beats in PE - it has crotchets on the 1st beat in the L.H. and R.H.
- in FEF and GEF, there is a tied a-c¹ third in the L.H. It must have been added by Fontana, since the notation of such a version would require marking the repetition of Dal Segno in a different place than it was performed in FC and PE. In turn, a tied c² in the R.H. may be compliant with Chopin's intentions due to the curved line in bar 1. See bar 1.    

Compare the passage in the sources »

category imprint: Differences between sources; Editorial revisions; Corrections & alterations; Source & stylistic information

notation: Pitch

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