A
Main text
A - Autograph
GE - German edition
GE1 - First German edition
GE2 - Second German edition
GE3 - Revised impression of GE2
FE - French edition
FE1 - First French Edition
FED - Dubois copy
FES - Stirling copy
EE - English edition
EE1 - First English Edition
EE2 - Second impression of EE1
EE3 - Revised impression of EE2
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  b. 6

A possible reading of the slur in A (→GEFEEE)

The slur of A interpreted in context

The notation of slur endings in bar 6 and analogous bars is not uniform in A. In six out of 12 places slurs clearly end on the crotchet on the 2nd beat of the bar (bars 10, 12, 40, 44, 92 and 94), in three they extend more or less to the grace note (bars 6, 8 and 96) and in the remaining three they barely reach the 2nd quaver (bars 38, 42 and 90). In GE1 (→FEEE) the slur reaches the crotchet only in bars 10 and 44, otherwise extending only to the 2nd quaver of the bar. In GE2 (→GE3) that latter notation was used in all the discussed places.  

In our opinion, differences in slur span in  A have the nature of purely graphic inaccuracies; this is evidenced by irregular occurrence of longer and shorter slurs and their visibly careless execution. For that reason, in our main text we give uniform slurring, adopting the most frequently occurring notation as the reliable one. This solution finds additional justification in Chopin's corrections of slur endings in bars 44, 92 and 94, in which the formerly shorter slurs were prolonged to reach the crotchet.

Actually, slur fragments in the listed bars do not determine the articulation, as it is defined there by the staccato signs. Thus, the moment of slur ending may only impact the interpretation of the crotchet on the 2nd beat of the bar as separated from the preceding quaver movement or as closing it. Viewed from this angle, the adopted solution also seems correct, as accented crotchets on the 3rd beat, adding point to each one of those two-bar phrases, are naturally juxtaposed against the previous quaver movement that each time ends with a crotchet with the grace note on the 2nd beat.

Compare the passage in the sources »

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in GE, Inaccurate slurs in A

notation: Slurs

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