mUltimate Chopin

Op. 25 No 1, Etude in A♭ major

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b. 36

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

A1 in AI

A in A (→CDP,GE), FE & EE
..

The change of register of the bass note is one of a few introduced in this part of Etude by Chopin – cf. bars 35, 38 and 40.

category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: Accompaniment changes

b. 37

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

e1 in AI

f1 in A (→CDP,GE), FE & EE
..

The version of A and of the later sources may raise stylistic doubts due to the parallel shift of the A major chord to b minor appearing in combination with the previous bar. Therefore, it is presumably Chopin's lapsus calami. However, considering the fact that the composer had a number of occasions to correct his potential mistake (proofreading of three Stichvorlage manuscripts, proofreading of FE, lessons, whose proof are FED and FES), we preserve this version in the main text.

category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: Errors of A

b. 38

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

..

In AI one can see that, initially, it was the one octave lower A1 that was the bass note at the beginning of the bar.

category imprint: Corrections & alterations; Source & stylistic information

issues: Accompaniment changes , Corrections of AI

b. 40

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

f2 in AI, A (→GE), FE & EE

e2 in CDP
..

The version of CDP is certainly a result of the copyist's inattention, who, looking for possibilities to accelerate copying with an abbreviated notation, did not notice the movement of the melodic line.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Errors of CDP

b. 40

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

f1 in AI

e1 in A (→CDP,GE), FE & EE
..

In the preserved photography of AI, it is hard to state whether Chopin, while correcting the 16th note in the R.H., changed e1 to f1 or the other way round. According to us, it is the second possibility that is more plausible, as the other changes visible in AI generally strive towards the versions written later in A. However, as the version with e1 is represented by the remaining sources, for AI we adopt f1, which at a certain stage of composing the Etude was certainly considered by Chopin. 

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations