Main text
Main text
A - Autograph
GE - German edition
GE1 - First German edition
GE2 - Second German edition
GE3 - Later 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. 4-5

Slur in A (literal reading)

Slur in A (interpretation→GEFE)

Possible reading of slurs in FE (→EE)

The first slur of A may be treated as the "tenuto" slur (to the end of bar 4) that warns against performing the last note under the slur as light and short. In this context, a slur reaching the 1st note of bar 5 seems much more likely, as it stresses the coherence of the musical thought of the introduction and the main theme of the Mazurka.

The notation of the slurs in FE may be interpreted as incomplete (a missing ending of the slur from bar 4 at the beginning of bar 5) or erroneous (the slur from bar 4 stretching too long, or the slur in bar 5 beginning too late). Taking into consideration the notation of A (→GE) and the natural sequence of reading the signs when performing the Mazurka (the end of the slur in bar 4, signaling the continuation, overlaps with the slur in bar 5 that begins a new phrase), we consider the first interpretation to be more plausible. However, if we treat the notation of FE as erroneous, similar reasoning related to the sequence of sign reading points to the last-mentioned possibility (a continuous slur adopted in EE).

Compare the passage in the sources »

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in FE, Inaccurate slurs in A

notation: Slurs

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