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Op. 25 No 6, Etude in G♯ minor

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Annotations in teaching copies

b. 5

composition: Op. 25 No 6, Etude in G♯ minor

Fingering in FC (→GE) & EE

Fingering in FE

Fingering written into FED, contextual interpretation

Suggested complement to FED fingering
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The chromatic third progression has two fingering versions in the sources:

  1. The fingering of FE (→GE) and EE, including 13 thirds in bar 5, printed also in FE in a completed version (the addition, undoubtedly performed by Chopin, was almost certainly introduced in the proofreading of this edition). All remaining chromatic progressions in this Etude were fingered by Chopin according to this scheme.
  2. The fingering written in FED over eight thirds in the 1st half in bar 5. According to us, they are to be interpreted as different from the printed proposal of fingering for the entire chromatic scale in these bars. Taking into account the fact that the first fingering was eventually indicated next to each third, we suggest a similar generalisation also for the second scheme, added in FED.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Annotations in teaching copies , Annotations in FED , Differences in fingering , Authentic corrections of FE

b. 31-33

composition: Op. 25 No 6, Etude in G♯ minor

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In FE, instead of , a  was misplaced twice – at the beginning of the last group in the L.H. in bar 31 there is c2-e2 instead of c2-e2, while at the 7th semiquaver in bar 33 there is f2-a2 instead of f2-a2. Both mistakes were corrected in FES, although it is hard to state whether it was Chopin who performed it. In the second place, an erroneous or unclear notation could have been in [A] and in the remaining Stichvorlage manuscripts – in FC one can see a correction from  to , while EE1 does not include any sign before this note, which gives the same result as the erroneous  in FE.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Annotations in teaching copies , Errors in FE , Errors of A , Annotations in FES

b. 42

composition: Op. 25 No 6, Etude in G♯ minor

a-c1 in contextual interpretation of FC, FE, GE1, EE1 (→EE2) and in GE2 (→GE3), EE3 & FED

a-c1 in FEJ & FES, contextual interpretation, and FED, possible interpretation

a-b suggested by the editors – enharmonic notation of FEJ & FES, 
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When publishing the Etude, Chopin envisaged c1 as the middle note of the chords from 4 to 7. The version is included in FC (→GE), FE and EE, yet only in GE and EE3 it was written without mistakes, with the necessary  lowering a to a. However, in all three preserved copies with Chopin's annotations there are entries proving the change of intention. In FEJ, a  lowering c1 to c1 was added in the 4th chord, in FES such naturals are before the 4th and 6th chords. In addition, the  added by Chopin before the 4th chord in FED, despite its lower position, can refer to the middle note (c1), as a should not have raised any doubts even without the necessary . Therefore, in all three cases Chopin changed the middle sound in the chords from 4 to 7 in a simplified enharmonically way from c1 to b. The version (our main text) bears features of Chopin improvement – in the original version, the effect of the change from c1 to b at the transition between bars 41 and 42 is reduced due to the later return of c1 in the middle of bar 42.  

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

issues: Annotations in teaching copies , Annotations in FED , Accompaniment changes , Annotations in FES , Authentic post-publication changes and variants , Annotations in FEJ