mUltimate Chopin

Op. 25 No 5, Etude in E minor

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Inaccuracies in GE

b. 35-36

composition: Op. 25 No 5, Etude in E minor

Crotchets, accent in FC

Minims, accents in FE

Crotchets, accents in EE

Crotchets in GE1

Crotchets, accent in GE2 (→GE3)

Minims, long accents suggested by the editors
..

In the main text we give the notation modelled on FE as most probably the latest and most consistent – the accents, minims and pedalling specify the way of performance accordingly. The remaining sources prove that Chopin tried to mark the possibility of separating the tenor voice in different ways. In the version of EE it is the original form of the 1st chord (with a), mistake in pedalling and placing accents on the wrong side that draw the attention. The notation of FC is inconsistent (an accent over f1, separate stem for e1) and incomplete (no pedalling). In GE it was distorted even more – e1 is not separated, whereas GE1 overlooked the accent.
According to us, it is highly likely that in this context Chopin most probably had long accents on his mind.  

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

issues: Long accents , Inaccuracies in GE , Errors in EE , GE revisions , Authentic corrections of FE

b. 69-72

composition: Op. 25 No 5, Etude in E minor

cresc. - - in FC

No indication in FE

cresc. - - in EE

cresc. - - in GE
..

Chopin added the cresc. indication in FC and in the base text to EE. In the main text, we give the range of the indication on the basis of FC. Leading the dashes to  in bar 73, which was done in GE, is inconsistent with the  sign (such juxtapositions are sometimes to be found in Chopin's works, yet only when there are at least two independent lines or sound planes).

category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: Inaccuracies in GE , Authentic corrections of FC

b. 130-133

composition: Op. 25 No 5, Etude in E minor

Long accents in FC

R.H. long accent in FE

R.H. long accents in EE & GE1

Short accents in both hands in GE2 (→GE3)
..

The long accent in bar 130 must have been included in [A], whereas the remaining were added by Chopin in FC and probably in the base text to EE. The added signs have a form of long accents and this is how they were recreated in EE and GE1. In later GE, they were changed to common, short accents. The signs in FC are placed more or less between the staves and they probably concern both hands. In FE, EE and GE1 they were placed under the R.H., whereas in GE2 (→GE3), another set of accents for the L.H. was added.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Long accents , Inaccuracies in GE , GE revisions , Authentic corrections of FC