The range of the 
hairpins differs in particular sources to such an extent that it may suggest different manners of interpretation. The sign in A is inaccurate – the upper arm of the hairpins is slightly shorter than the bottom one, which we consider to be reliable and on the basis of which the sign was printed the first time in FE1 (→GE1). However, in the written repetition the sign is clearly longer in these editions – it reaches the last quaver. According to us, it cannot be entirely excluded that it is a result of Chopin's proofreading. In EE and later GE the signs in both appearances of this bar were unified, although in EE it was performed differently than in GE.
Taking into account also the hairpins in analogous bar 31, in which they are slightly longer in A, all three source ranges of this sign can be considered to be potentially corresponding to Chopin's intention:
- the hairpins of A, reaching more or less to the middle of bar 6, confirmed with a similar sign in bar 31. They do not explicitly determine the manner of performance of the ending of the bar, which makes them somehow universal. We give this version, written with Chopin's hand, in the main text.
- the sign of EE, reaching the top note of the melody, may be considered to be a slightly more unconstrained interpretation of the entries of A.
-
the sign reaching the last quaver, indicated perhaps by Chopin in the proofreading of FE1 (the second time), suggests an emphatic entrance on g
1 in bar 7.
Compare the passage in the sources »
category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Interpretations within context; Differences between sources
issues: EE revisions, Inaccuracies in GE, Inaccuracies in FE, Scope of dynamic hairpins, GE revisions, Inaccuracies in A
notation: Articulation, Accents, Hairpins
