mUltimate Chopin

Op. 10 No 4, Etude in C♯ minor

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Long accents

b. 31-32

composition: Op. 10 No 4, Etude in C♯ minor

Accents in AI

Short accents in FE (→GE,EE)

Differentiated accents suggested by the editors
..

The type of accents written in AI under the semiquavers in the R.H. is not clear. Several clearly longer signs previously visible on this page of the manuscript allow to consider short accents to be more plausible. The accents in FE (→GE,EE) – separately for the L.H. and over the crotchets in the right hand – are short, yet, according to us, the mere fact of separating the accents may mean that Chopin wanted to differentiate between their quality.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Long accents

b. 33-34

composition: Op. 10 No 4, Etude in C♯ minor

Long accents in AI

Short accents in FE (→GE1→GE1a→GE2)

Differentiated accents in EE

Differentiated accents in GE3 (→GE4→GE5)
..

In AI, the accents over the chords in these bars are undoubtedly long and this is the notation we adopt to the main text. FE has short accents (only the third one could be possibly considered as long), which seems to be less convincing, as far as the music is concerned, and probably results from an incomplete understanding of [A]. The accents in the remaining editions were subject to further modifications, most probably accidental.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Long accents , Inaccuracies in GE , Inaccuracies in FE , EE inaccuracies

b. 35-36

composition: Op. 10 No 4, Etude in C♯ minor

Three accents in AI

Seven long accents in FE (→EE)

Differentiated marks in GE1 (→GE1a→GE2)

Longer  in GE3

Shorter  in GE4 (→GE5)
..

The accents, written in AI only in bar 35, most probably are to be considered as a model. It is confirmed by seven signs visible in FE (→GE,EE). The signs in FE (→EE), despite varied length and imprecise arrangement, are certainly long accents. In turn, it is not clear in GE, in which there is a visible tendency to extend the signs.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Long accents

b. 53

composition: Op. 10 No 4, Etude in C♯ minor

No mark in AI

Long accent in FE

 hairpin in GE

Long accent in EE
..

We interpret the mark in FE as long accent. This is how it was also interpreted in EE, in which the accent was slightly moved in the direction of the part of the R.H., which, according to us, probably better reproduces Chopin's original notation. In GE1 the sign was interpreted as diminuendo hairpins, while in GE2 it was additionally extended, so it embraces the entire group of semiquavers.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Long accents