mUltimate Chopin

Op. 10 No 8, Etude in F major

Text Compare Notes Sources Description
Main text
Main text
A - Autograph
FE - French edition
FE1 - First French edition
FE2 - Corrected impression of FE1
FED - Dubois copy
FEJ - Jędrzejewicz copy
FES - Stirling copy
GE - German edition
GE1 - First German edition
GE2 - Second German edition
GE3 - Third German edition
GE4 - Fourth German edition
EE - English edition
EE3 - Corrected impression of [EE2]
EE4 - Revised impression of EE3
compare
  b. 94-95

Chords in A

FE (→GE,EE)

The ending of the Etude would be shaped in a few stages, which is revealed by visible traces of corrections in A and Chopin's proofreading of the chords in the R.H. in FE (→GE,EE). The original notation of A was the following: . Next Chopin changed the external chords, although it seems that the change of the harmonic content of the first chord in bar 94 was not directly related to the change of the final chord's form. It is indicated by the part of the L.H., in which the first two chords are already written in the final form (A major and D minor), while in two remaining ones Chopin would still introduce some changes. Therefore, it can be assumed that the order of writing and corrections was the following:

  1. Notation of the original version of the part of the R.H.
  2. Change of the harmonic concept of the first two chords, including the corrections in the part of the R.H., and notation of the part of the L.H. (the last two chords in a non-final form – see below).
  3. Corrections in the arrangement of the last two chords, whose original notation was the following: . Chopin then moved e in the penultimate chord one octave higher (he removed e and added e1) and removed f and a3 in the last one.

The corrections, probably performed at the last moment, contributed to the fact that Chopin was not able to entirely control the text, which is revealed by two possible errors: leaving c2 (unchanged to d2) in the 2nd chord in the R.H. and the minim stem next to f2 in the final chord (probably written "on the run" – all crotchet chords in bar 94 have such stems next to bottom notes).

While proofreading FE (→GE,EE), Chopin corrected c2 in the 2nd chord and improved the remaining chords in the R.H., by removing notes from the 1st and 3rd chord and adding some in the last one. The final effect combines sound economy with full and natural sound.

Compare the passage in the sources »

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: Corrections in A, Authentic corrections of FE

notation: Pitch

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