mUltimate Chopin

WN 17, Polonaise in B♭ major

Text Compare Notes Sources Description
Select: 
Category
All
Graphic ambiguousness
Interpretations within context
Differences between sources
Editorial revisions
Corrections & alterations
Source & stylistic information
Notation
All
Pitch
Rhythm
Slurs
Articulation, Accents, Hairpins
Verbal indications
Pedalling
Fingering
Ornaments
Shorthand & other
Importance
All
Important
Main
Undo Clear

b. 12-13

composition: WN 17, Polonaise in B♭ major

Tied third in JC & PE

No ties in EF
..

Lack of hold of the d2-f2 third in EF is probably a result of a misunderstanding of the notation of [AI] or of an oversight. Similarly in bars 39-40.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Errors in Fontana's editions

b. 13

composition: WN 17, Polonaise in B♭ major

..

In JC – certainly in accordance with [AI] – the beginning of the repeated section at the end of the Polonaise (bars 40-51) was marked here. Cf. the remark in bar 11.

category imprint: Differences between sources; Source & stylistic information

b. 13

composition: WN 17, Polonaise in B♭ major

No slurs in JC

Two slurs in EF

Ons slur in PE
..

Lack of slurs in JC means that the slurs in EF, both in this and in the next bar, are an addition by Fontana. At the same time, it is hard to determine which factor was significant to him, while he was differentiating those two so similar in terms of music bars. In the main text we adopt the slur of PE, most probably drawn from [A].

category imprint: Differences between sources

b. 13-14

composition: WN 17, Polonaise in B♭ major

No pedalling in JC

Pedalling in EF

Pedalling in PE
..

General coincidence of Chopin's pedalling in PE and the one added in EF indicates Fontana's good sense of Chopin's pedalling style. The minor difference in the positioning of  marks may, but does not have to, indicate a different performance, given that in the case of [A] (→PE), an inaccurate reading of the manuscript cannot be excluded. 

category imprint: Differences between sources

b. 13

composition: WN 17, Polonaise in B♭ major

Seventh in JC

Three-note chord in EF

Octave in PE
..

The difference between versions of JC and EF most probably stems from the faint notation of [A]. Determining the presence of an inner note of the chord placed on a ledger line is sometimes hard to achieve in Chopin's autographs. In the main text we give the undoubtedly later version of PE. Cf. the remark concerning bar 14.

category imprint: Differences between sources