mUltimate Chopin

Op. 10 No 12, Etude in C minor

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Authentic corrections of FE

b. 75

composition: Op. 10 No 12, Etude in C minor

No accidentals in A

 f &  f in FE (→GE,EE) 
..

The text of A is generally correct. Lack of the  before the 2nd note is however most probably a result of Chopin's distraction (haste). It is revealed by the place before the note, most probably left for the accidental to be inserted and, above all, by a later proofreading of FE (→GE,EE), in which both the  and the cancelling it  before the 8th semiquaver were added. It is not the only omission of an accidental introducing alteration of this kind in Chopin's works, although it rarely occurs (e.g., in the Etude in F minor, Op. 25 No. 2, bar 56).

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Omissions to cancel alteration , Errors of A , Authentic corrections of FE

b. 77-80

composition: Op. 10 No 12, Etude in C minor

Slur in A, literal reading

Interpretated slur in A (→FE→GE1), and slur in EE & GE2 (→GE3→GE4)

Our suggestion
..

The slur in A in bar 77, the last in the line, suggests a continuation in the next bar, yet there is no relevant slur in bar 78. In FE (→GE1) the ambiguous ending of the slur was reproduced, which was already avoided in EE and subsequent GE,s (the slur ends on the last semiquaver). In the main text we give the slur after the slur in analogous bars 79-80, probably added by Chopin at the time of proofreading FE.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Inaccurate slurs in A , Authentic corrections of FE

b. 79-80

composition: Op. 10 No 12, Etude in C minor

Slur in A, interpretation

Slur in FE (→GE,EE) 
..

The slur of A is clearly inaccurate – it ends abruptly after the 3rd group of semiquavers in bar 79, yet its final range is unclear. In the main text we give a slur with which in FE the entire figuration in bars 79-80 was included (we interpret the slightly inaccurate beginning of the slur in accordance with the evident musical sense; it was understood the same in GE and EE). The slur probably corresponds to Chopin's entry in a proofreading of FE.

category imprint:

issues: Inaccurate slurs in A , Authentic corrections of FE

b. 81-82

composition: Op. 10 No 12, Etude in C minor

..

In A the naturals raising e to e are written only before the topmost note of the chord at the beginning of bars 81 and 82 (also before e in the R.H.) and the flats lowering d to d (in different octaves) – only on the 2nd beat of bar 81. In FE a  before the lower note of the chord in bar 81 and flats of d on the 2nd beat of bar 82 were added to them. In GE all missing accidentals were added (also before d in the R.H.). In EE3 flats on the 4th beat of bar 81 were added (only in the L.H.) and on the 4th beat of bar 82 (both), while EE4 has accidentals in the same places as GE. 

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: EE revisions , Accidentals in different octaves , GE revisions , Authentic corrections of FE

b. 83-84

composition: Op. 10 No 12, Etude in C minor

Dots & wedges in A

Dots in FE (→GE)

No marks in EE
..

The difference between dots and wedges in A is very clear, yet it was not included in FE (→GE). Taking into account numerous inaccuracies of the notation of staccato marks in FE, we give preference to the detailed indications of A. In EE all dots were omitted.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in FE , Errors in EE , Authentic corrections of FE , Wedges