mUltimate Chopin

Op. 25 No 4, Etude in A minor

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b. 11

composition: Op. 25 No 4, Etude in A minor

Wedge in A & EE

No marks in FC (→GE)

Two wedges in FE

Our variant suggestion
..

Adding the second wedge under this chord in FE seems to be an argument for an intention to leave this sign. On the other hand, Chopin did not add it in FC, as he probably did with the wedges in bar 16. Therefore, in the main text we leave the inclusion of this sign at the discretion of the performer.

category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: Authentic corrections of FE

b. 12

composition: Op. 25 No 4, Etude in A minor

Sixth in A (→FE,FC→GE1) & EE

Triad in GE2 (→GE3)
..

Adding a on the 2nd quaver is undoubtedly an arbitrary decision of the reviser of GE2 (→GE3).

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: GE revisions

b. 13

composition: Op. 25 No 4, Etude in A minor

..

FE has an erroneous G instead of A as the 3rd quaver. This patent error could have been provoked by an inaccurate placement of this note in A. The mistake was corrected – perhaps by Chopin – in FED.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Annotations in teaching copies , Errors in FE , Annotations in FED , Inaccurate note pitch in A , Inaccuracies in A

b. 14-15

composition: Op. 25 No 4, Etude in A minor

 in A (→FE)

 in FC (→GE)

 in EE
..

The moment of beginning  hairpins falls in another place in each of three sources certainly (A) or possibly (FC and EE) representing the signs written by Chopin. At the same time, while the sign in EE may be considered to be compatible with A, crescendo in FC (→GE) clearly defines another dynamic nuance. In the main text we follow A (→FE), in which the range of the sign corresponds to the hairpins in analogous bars 6-7.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in FC

b. 15

composition: Op. 25 No 4, Etude in A minor

..

The second chord in the R.H. is a crotchet both in the upper and lower voices. Hence the lower voice has 9 quavers in this bar. The error resulted from hastily performed articulation corrections – Chopin would delete the staccato signs written inside the chords, which, in some cases, required rewriting the entire chord; omission of the quaver flag occurred exactly in the last rewritten chord.

category imprint: Source & stylistic information

issues: Errors resulting from corrections , Rhythmic errors , Errors of A