b. 24

 

e b-c1-e1 in FE (→EE2EE3)

e b-c1-e1 in GE & EE4

Our variant suggestion

FE has only a  before cbefore the last chord. Although the version with the b-c1-e1 chord is totally correct from the harmonic point of view, it does not have to correspond to Chopin's intention, as it could have been created accidentally:

  • In AI there are no naturals both before the discussed chord in the R.H. and before the preceding it 11th semiquaver in the L.H., which gives e and b-c1-e1. (the missing  returning c1 is a clear inaccuracy of notation).
  • Chopin changed this original version in [A], adding a  raising e to e in the L.H. and another one, before the chord in the R.H. The second sign could have been returning c1 after the transitional c1 at the beginning of the bar, hence being only a correction of an inaccurate notation or – which according to us is much more likely – raise e1 to eparallelly to the change in the L.H.
  • The engraver of FE inserted a  in the R.H. before c1, which could have happened, even if in [A] the sign concerned the upper note, as the accidentals next to an inaccurate note of a two-note chord or chord belong to the relatively frequent mistakes, e.g., in the middle of bar 17 FE has a  before c1 instead of a in the L.H.

Adding a  before e1 in GE was most probably a routine revision regulating accidentals in different octaves and parts of both hands, in this case with e in the L.H. two semiquavers before. The sign in EE4 was probably added on the basis of GE3.

Therefore, each of the three source versions may correspond to Chopin's intention, yet at the same time in each of them there may be errors (AI and FE and previous EE,s) or a foreign, potentially non-authentic intervention (GE and EE4). In the main text we give the b-c1-echord, emphasising that the sound of the topmost note is uncertain.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources; Editorial revisions

issues: EE revisions, GE revisions

notation: Pitch

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