The fifth on the 3rd beat of bars 2, 6, 10, 14, 37 and 41, visible in CLI, is probably the original version of this quaver (the third in bar 10 is probably written by mistake instead of a fifth). As a matter of fact, the presence of the internal note of the triad written on a ledger line is often very difficult to recognise in Chopin's autographs, yet in this case it is hard to assume that the copyist committed the same mistake in five out of six places. Initially, the c1 notes were also absent in FE, as Chopin added them in all bars in FEcor.
Chopin hesitated in which place to put cautionary naturals before c1. In the manuscripts there is no trace of them. In FEcor a 
was originally written before the triad on the 2nd beat of bar 2, yet it was then deleted. At a later stage of proofreading, the naturals appeared on the 2nd beat in bars 6 and 10 and on the 3rd beat of bars 14 and 37, which was transferred to GE1 (→GE1a). In bars 2 and 41 FE has a on the 3rd beat of the bar, whereas GE1 (→GE1a) – on the 2nd one, which means that the signs on the 2nd beat could also be present in FE at a given stage and only at the final stage of proofreading were they transferred before the last triad. The traces visible in the copies of FE seem to confirm this possibility. In all discussed bars in the main text we adopt the version with a on the 3rd beat, which may be the one preferred by Chopin and according to us, the most justified. In GE2 and later GE,s, the naturals are present in the entire Etude before both triads. In EE2 the version of FE was repeated (except for the overlooked in bar 6, which was corrected in EE3, see bars 1-5), whereas in EE4 also before the triads on the 2nd beat naturals were added in all places where they were missing.
List of printed versions.
0 – no naturals,
1 – before first triad (on 2nd beat),
2 – before second triad (on 3rd beat),
both – naturals before both triads.
| bar | FEcor | FE,EE2-3 | GE1-1a | GE2-5 | EE4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | both | both |
| 6 | 0 | 1,0,1 | 1 | both | 1 |
| 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | both | 1 |
| 14 | 0 | 2 | both | both | both |
| 37 | 0 | 2 | both | both | both |
| 41 | 0 | 2 | 1 | both | both |
Compare the passage in the sources »
category imprint: Differences between sources; Editorial revisions; Corrections & alterations
issues: Cautionary accidentals, Accompaniment changes, Authentic corrections of FE, Uncertain notes on ledger lines
notation: Pitch
