mUltimate Chopin

Op. 25 No 1, Etude in A♭ major

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b. 8

composition: Op. 25 No 1, Etude in A♭ major

e in CDP

d in AI, A (→GE), FE & EE
..

The version of CDP results in a pianistically uncomfortable cluster of three e notes, played alternately by the right and left hand. Therefore, it is most probably a mistake – the copyist did not notice the difference between the third and fourth figure in this bar and marked the latter as repetition of the previous one. He committed a similar and undeniable, yet more serious, mistake also at the very beginning of the Etude. 

category imprint: Differences between sources

b. 9

composition: Op. 25 No 1, Etude in A♭ major

No marking in AI, CDP & EE

in A (→GE) & FE
..

The missing  both in AI and EE is only one of numerous proofs for a less accurate elaboration of the Etude in these sources. 

In CDP there are no performance indications until bar 19, which is certainly a result of the copyist's inattention or his conscious decision, being a result of, e.g., hurry.

category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

b. 9

composition: Op. 25 No 1, Etude in A♭ major

A in CDP

A1 in AI, A (→GE), FE & EE
..

The version of CDP is probably erroneous (the copyist could have looked at bar 10 in A), as the A1 note is already present in AI and it is highly unlikely that Chopin would have then returned to the probably original version with A – cf. bar 1. However, if CDP is a copy of another, lost autograph, allegedly intended for gift, it cannot be excluded that the version was written there by Chopin.

category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: Errors of CDP

b. 9-10

composition: Op. 25 No 1, Etude in A♭ major

 in AI

 in A (→GE), FE & EE
..

The previous pedal change – at the transition between bars 9 and 10 – written in AI, was deleted in A (→GE). FE and EE also include the final version of pedalling, compatible with analogous bars 1-2.

category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: Deletions in A

b. 9-18

composition: Op. 25 No 1, Etude in A♭ major

..

In these bars, the abbreviated notation of the repeating figures (see bars 1-8) appears in all three manuscripts: AI, A, and CDP. In the copy, starting from the end of bar 12, it is the use of up to four variants of the repetition sign that draws attention. According to us, the reason could have been the appearance of such signs, different than the ones used by the copyist, in the copied autograph – the first of atypical for CDP signs appears in the same bar in which a similar sign (with two bars) is written in A.

We consider the notation of A in bar 17 to be inaccurate – see the note to this bar.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Abbreviated notation of A