mUltimate Chopin

Op. 10 No 4, Etude in C♯ minor

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Enharmonic corrections

b. 27

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

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In AI Chopin initially wrote the 6th semiquaver as c2, then he moved the note head one second up. The result of the correction is not entirely clear, as the accidental before the note became an illegible inkblot. 

category imprint: Corrections & alterations

issues: Enharmonic corrections

b. 35-36

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

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In both these bars, on the 12th, 13th and 16th semiquavers, AI has a c (in different octaves) and not a d. The correction from d2 to c2 on the 13th semiquaver in bar 35 indicates Chopin's hesitation, as eventually – in FE (→GE,EE) – all these notes were written as d. 

category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: Chopin's hesitations , Enharmonic corrections

b. 42

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

AI, literal reading

AI, possible interpretation

FE (→GE,EE)

Our suggestion
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When interpreted literally, AI has in the last group of semiquavers two notes different than in the published version: the 2nd semiquaver a (without ) and the 4th semiquaver A. According to us, it is a result of overlapping of inaccuracies and corrections, while the text intended by Chopin does not differ from the text of the remaining sources:  

  • at the time of writing a Chopin most probably had a in mind and he even started writing a  before this note. Instead of finishing the sign, he probably decided to change it to g, although the remade (?) note still is more similar to a/a;
  • the last semiquaver is probably written inaccurately, too low.

In the main text we give the version of FE (→GE,EE), completed with the cautionary  before g.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Interpretations within context; Differences between sources; Editorial revisions; Corrections & alterations

issues: Enharmonic corrections , Inaccurate note pitch in A

b. 47-49

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

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In AI Chopin wrote the 12th semiquaver in bars 47-48 (and in bar 49, marked as repetition of bar 48) as f1. In FE (→GE,EE) the note is written as g1, as a result of which the next note has to be provided with a .

category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: Enharmonic corrections

b. 50

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

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In the last group of semiquavers, in the place where FE (→GE,EE) has a b1, in AI there is a c2. By introducing this clearly justified correction, Chopin did not check its result precisely – in FE (→GE1→GE1a,EE) there is no  before c2, still necessary despite the change of the previous note from c2 to  b1. This patent oversight was corrected in GE2 (→GE3→GE4→GE5).  

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: Errors in FE , Omissions to cancel alteration , GE revisions , Enharmonic corrections