mUltimate Chopin

Op. 10 No 12, Etude in C minor

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Omissions to cancel alteration

b. 18

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

No accidental in A

Natural in FE (→GE,EE)
..

Lack of the  returning f is most probably Chopin's oversight here. The composer's concentration may have decreased when, after the chromatised bar 17, he reached the diatonic progression in the main key. In any case, the accidental added in a proofreading of FE (→GE,EE) must be considered to be binding. Similarly in bar 58.  

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

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

b. 35

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

..

In A there are no flats on the 2nd beat in the bar, which is certainly a mistake (cf. two previous bars). Both necessary accidentals were added in a proofreading of FE (→GE,EE).

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Omissions to cancel alteration , Omission of current key accidentals , Authentic corrections of FE

b. 55

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

No accidentals in A (→FE→EE)

Flats in GE
..

The version without flats, featured in A (→FE→EE), is perfectly correct from the musical point of view. In spite of this, it is almost certain that Chopin forgot to return a1-a2 here; as a result, it is the version of GE that is compliant with his intention. It is revealed by the comparison with the prototype of this phrase in bar 15, in which the sound of a1-a2 was unequivocally confirmed by Chopin. 

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Omissions to cancel alteration , Errors of A

b. 58

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

No accidental in A

Natural in FE (→GE,EE)
..

The natural added in a proofreading of FE (→GE,EE), probably by Chopin, is almost certainly a correction of a mistake and not a change of the original version.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Omissions to cancel alteration , Errors of A , 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