GE and FE (→EE) differ with regard to the placement of 
marks in bars 5-6 and analogous bar groups. Throughout the entire Prelude we come across 20 such places grouped into four blocks covering bars 5-12, 19-26, 35-50 and 67-74. The regularity of the markings in the two editions, both autograph-based, is worth noting:
-
FE has one-and-a-half-bar pedalling repeated 19 times ( mid-bar in bar 6 and analogous bars, with slight deviations from the pattern in bars 20 and 38); and in one instance (bars 71-72) the asterisk is missing altogether;
- GE has whole-bar pedalling 18 times; besides, bar 35 has got two half-bar pedals and bar 67 has a single pedal in the 2nd part of the bar.
It is hardly likely for such differences to have occurred by accident, e.g. as a result of mistaken interpretation of unclear notation of the manuscripts. As the texts of both editions are based on autographs, we are definitely dealing here with two authentic but different pedalling concepts. The variant solution we suggest should be understood in the following manner: the pedal can be released when the first asterisk (in brackets) appears, or kept depressed longer, until the second asterisk appears.
Other similar instances of varied pedalling found in different sources are known in Chopin's works, e.g. in the Barcarolle Op. 60, bar 115 (the first three editions are based on three different autographs) or Polonaise-Fantasie Op. 61, bars 88-90 (two Stichvorlage autographs).
The question of differences in the placement of 
marks at the transition between bars 8-9 and analogous bars is discussed in the note to those bars.
Compare the passage in the sources »
category imprint: Differences between sources
notation: Pedalling
