Chopin added the pedalling of these bars in already finished three Stichvorlage manuscripts. It is proven by lack of indications in CDP and an easy to recognise Chopin's hand in the signs visible in GC. The version of the latter copy, confirmed by EE, can be considered to be final. In the main text, however, we give the pedalling of FE, taking into account the following observations:
- Chopin could have completed the pedalling of FE in the proofreading of this edition;
- Chopin did not delete the pedal in bar 17 in any of the pupils' copies bearing the traces of development (FED and FES). The importance of this argument is enhanced by the fact of deleting in FES the pedal in bar 18;
- it is possible that in [A] bar 17 was marked only as repetition of bar 16. Chopin, adding in [A] pedal in bar 16, had an impression that he marked pedalling in both bars. While then adding pedalling in GC and base text to EE, which could have consisted in copying from the already completed [A], he simply copied the encountered signs, without paying attention to a possible difference of their meaning. In this scenario, the pedalling of FE would be only an interpretation of the abbreviated notation of [A].
Last but not least, one has to take into account the fact that it is possibly only a difference in meaning and Chopin could have considered repetition of pedaling from bar 16 in bar 17 to be obvious – apart from that both bars are identical.
The aforementioned arguments – except for deletion in FES in bar 18 – are of an application also in analogous bars 35-36 and 39-40.
Compare the passage in the sources »
category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations
issues: Authentic corrections of FE, Authentic corrections in GC
notation: Pedalling
