mUltimate Chopin

Op. 10 No 12, Etude in C minor

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Long accents

b. 1-6

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

Possible long accents in A

Possible short accents in A (→FE→GE,EE)
..

Determining which type of accents Chopin had in mind at the time of writing A is not an easy task. The marks have different length, yet it is rather a result of a hasty notation than the will to differentiate them. According to us, this fact supports the decision to consider them as short accents, being the most natural solution in this context. This is how they were reproduced in FE (→GE,EE). Due to the described doubts, we also give long accents as a possible interpretation of A.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Long accents

b. 2-4

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

Possible short accents in A

Possible long accents in A

Short accents in FE (→GE,EE) 

Possible long accents in FE (→GE,EE) 
..

Lack of the accent in the middle of bar 4 is probably an inaccuracy of the notation of A – it seems highly unlikely that this bar was supposed to be less accentuated than bar 2. In the main text we suggest all accents added probably in a proofreading of FE (→GE,EE). The added accents do not differ from the adjacent ones, therefore, we accept both possibilities of their interpretation – cf. bars 1-6.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Long accents , Authentic corrections of FE

b. 2-4

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

No marks in A

 signs in FE

Accent &  in GE & EE

Accents suggested by the editors.
..

The  marks, added by Chopin probably in a proofreading of FE (→GE,EE), are certainly meant to be long accents and this is how we give them in the main text. In bar 2 the length of marks in GE and EE corresponds quite well with the size of Chopin's long accents, although most probably by accident.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Long accents , Authentic corrections of FE

b. 15-16

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

Accents in A, interpretation

FE (→GE)

EE
..

It is uncertain whether Chopin wanted to contrast the type of accents in the R.H. in these bars. The marks in A are of similar size, yet they differ in their position, which, according to us, indicates their otherness. Therefore, we interpret the accents on the 4th beat in each of the bars as long ones. In FE the difference in the length of the marks seems to be irrelevant and accidental; this is how it was interpreted in GE. In turn, in EE the difference was increased, so the accents on the 2nd beat in the bars are clearly longer.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Interpretations within context

issues: Long accents

b. 27

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

Long accent in A

 in FE (→GE,EE) 

Our suggestion
..

According to us, the mark in A under the last chord in the R.H. is a long accent. In the editions it was reproduced as  hairpins, which can be considered as an alternative interpretation of the notation of A. In the main text we suggest to move the accent over the chord, in accordance with the corrected version of the rhythm, in which the melodic d3 note is repeated.

category imprint: Interpretations within context

issues: Long accents