mUltimate Chopin

Op. 25 No 7, Etude in C♯ minor

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Inaccuracies in FE

b. 1

composition: Op. 25 No 7, Etude in C♯ minor

Metronome marking with time signature in GC (→GE)

Metronome marking at start of Etude in FE & EE
..

Placing the metronome indication already at the beginning of the Etude may be a result of the routine interpretation of the engravers of FE and EE who did not see a reason to separate it from the Lento indication. Cf. the Etude in A minor, No. 11, bars 1-5.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in FE , EE inaccuracies

b. 9-10

composition: Op. 25 No 7, Etude in C♯ minor

No slurs in GC (→GE1)

One-bar slur in FE

Two-bar slur in EE

Slurs in GE2 (→GE3)

Our suggestion
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Both the absence of the slur in GC (→GE1) and the one-bar slur of FE have to be considered as an inaccuracy of notation. In turn, the slur of EE is most probably authentic and we adopt it as the base of the main text. However, we shift its beginning in such a way that it included also the grace note, as it can be seen in analogous situations in GC (bars 1 and 45) and FE (bar 45). It cannot be excluded that the copyist confused the staves and wrote the slur of the L.H., running from the beginning of the bar, over the R.H. A two-bar slur was added also in GE2 (→GE3), together with a conventional slur of the grace note.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in FE , GE revisions , Errors of GC

b. 35

composition: Op. 25 No 7, Etude in C♯ minor

 in GC (→GE) & EE

No marking in FE
..

The missing  in FE does not seem to be a result of Chopin's proofreading – it is rather an oversight of the engraver, possibly inattention at the time of writing or completing the handwritten base text to FE.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in FE

b. 45

composition: Op. 25 No 7, Etude in C♯ minor

 in GC (literal reading→GE1)

 in GC (probable interpretation) & GE2 (→GE3)

 & accent in FE

 & accent in EE
..

It is hard to state how the difference in the placement of  occurred and, which is more important, which note it is supposed to concern – the C grace note or the e1 minim. The compatibility of GC and EE ( is almost certainly a result of a misinterpretation of ) allows to assume that in the manuscripts the sign was under the stave, which would rather indicate the mnim. The version with minim is also supported by deletion of the concerning it accent in GC, considered by Chopin as superfluous, perhaps due to . We give this version in the main text, present in the base source and including the Chopin correction.
On the other hand, the indications of FE –  under C and accent over e1 – have a musical sense, particularly in the context of corrections of the dynamics in the previous bar. Therefore, we recommend this version as alternative with respect to the main text. At the same time, we interpret the accent as long, taking into account the sign that the copyist rewrote in this place from GC, as well as the one Chopin added in FES in bar 1.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in FE , Authentic corrections in GC

b. 50

composition: Op. 25 No 7, Etude in C♯ minor

Grace note in GC

Grace note in FE

Slashed grace note in GE & EE3

No grace note in EE1 (→EE2)
..

The F1 grace note in GC was added in pencil, which means that Chopin added it in the last phase of preparations of base texts for three editions of Opus 25 (the main goal of these additions was probably the fact of introducing metronome tempos, which are in the form of pencil additions in the manuscripts of 11 etudes). The missing quaver flag in FE is most probably an inaccuracy resulting from haste at the time of performing numerous Chopin corrections. In turn, the notation with the slashed quaver is certainly a result of routine revision of GE (the notation undoubtedly corresponds to the correct performance of this ornament, as only a few Chopin slashed grace notes are to be interpreted as appoggiaturas).

category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: Inaccuracies in FE , Accompaniment changes , Authentic corrections of FE , Authentic corrections in GC