b. 119

 

 

In the final fragment of the Mazurka (bars 115-146) A undoubtedly has two types of accents. Short accent marks are definitely those in bars 115-116, 118, 120 (the second one), 122 (the second one), 123-124, 126, 134, and 146 (the first one); long accents  – in bars 117, 120 (the first one), 121, 122 (the first one), 133, and 146 (the second one). The remaining accents may be read as either short or long ones.

In the editors' opinion, in each of the doubtful cases there is a more plausible and a less plausible version of the accent; that can be determined on the basis of its shape, size, and on the following observations:

  • in bars 115-144, short accents are those that fall on the 3rd beat of the bar and those from among accents on the 2nd beat that appear at the end of two-bar phrases; the accent in 142, also a short one, is the repetition of the accent from bar 139;
  • all the accents that are definitely short ones are written above the notes, and all the long accents are written under the notes, the only exception being the short accent written under the minim d flat1 in bar 122.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness

issues: Long accents

notation: Articulation, Accents, Hairpins

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