As - Autograph sketch
| Date: | ⇒VII 1847 |
| Title: | Tempo di Valse |
Sketch of the whole Waltz in the original edition. The form of the piece was still incomplete at that moment – there is no four-bar introduction without accompaniment, the transition in bars 69-76 is also shorter (numeration of the final version). The reprise is marked in an abbreviated manner as Dal Segno, which can be seen in all presentation autographs – AI, AII and AIII.
Apart from the above differences, the text contains a number of other details, changed in the more developed autographs, e.g., no grace notes in bars 54-63.
In a few places As gives more than one version. Generally, it applies to accompaniment, however, it can be also found in the melody. At the same time, it seems that Chopin planned to use some of these parallel ideas as a diversification, while repeating the phrases (e.g., two versions of accompaniment in bars 21-26); on the other hand, some of them were written with a view to choosing only one of them (e.g., the part of the L.H. in bar 28). There are also places in which all the recorded versions were deleted – bars 64-68. As a result, preparing one text out of this register of ideas that could be ascribed to As is practically impossible. The presented proposal – the "editors" version – does not then reflect Chopin's intention at any stage of composing the Waltz. It is only meant to present the written material in a form similar to the actually written finished versions of the piece. Our proposal is founded on the following assumptions:
- we look for the indications concerning a possible use of alternative versions in the complete notation of four subsequent autographs. In particular in bars 21-24 and 29-32 we adopt the order of the versions of the L.H. present in the presentation autographs;
- we consider the version of the accompaniment written in bars 33-36 to be a version of the ending of the Waltz. In order to show this, we write out the reprise (contrary to the layout of As) until bar 108, this time with the order of the version of the L.H. in bars 93-96 and 101-104 compatible with A;
- in bars 64-68 we give a later from the two written versions (and deleted).
In the "transcription" version, we reproduce the notation of As, preserving its original, abbreviated-variant layout.
| Original in: | Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris |
| Shelf-mark: | Ms. 111 A |