mUltimate Chopin

Op. 25 No 1, Etude in A♭ major

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Errors resulting from corrections

b. 43-46

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

Three slurs in AI (literal reading in bars 44-46)

Two slurs in AI (contextual interpretation), A (→GE) & EE

One slur in FE
..

In bar 43 the slurs of AI and A are certainly inaccurate – the shortening is related to the use of •/• signs in AI and the correction-deletion in A.

The slurs over the passages in bars 44-47 appear in AI only at the beginning and end of this section. Both slurs appear to be fragmentary, so it seems that Chopin marked the beginning and the end of one slur in such a way. The reason for this incomplete notation could have been the octave sign, impeding a clear introduction of the middle part of the slur (a similar situation is to be found in the Etude in E major, Op. 10 No. 11, bars 40-42). The issue of the slur's ending in bar 47 is discussed separately.

The authenticity of the unbroken slur of FE seems to be highly unlikely. Lack of division is probably a result of misunderstanding at the time of reading the slurs of the handwritten base text.

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

issues: Inaccurate slurs in A , Errors resulting from corrections