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
compare
  b. 30

A possible reading of   in A

A probable reading of   in A

GE (→FEEE)

The upper arm of the hairpin mark in bars 29-30 is visibly shorter in A than the lower one. The line thickness and shape indicate that the upper arm was drawn with a slower hand movement than the lower one, which most probably means that the Chopin drew the upper part of the mark first and that it was drawn more carefully (by the way, he drew most dynamic hairpins that way). This allows us to consider the lower, longer, arm as imprecisely notated and treat the length of the shorter upper arm as the reliable indication of the length of the entire mark. In GE(→FEEE) the mark is even shorter, which must be considered the engraver's fault. 

Compare the passage in the sources »

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in GE, Scope of dynamic hairpins

notation: Articulation, Accents, Hairpins

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