Op. 35, Sonata in B♭ minor, Mvt II

  b. 81-87

		6 different slurs in GC
		No slurs in FE
		7 shorter slurs in EE
		4 longer slurs in GE1
		5 longer slurs in GE2
		7 longer slurs – our suggestion

Both in these bars and further in bars 88-92 and analog. the slurring of the sources is of a fragmentary nature and it is written imprecisely:

• FE has only one slur in these fragments, from the beginning of bar 164 to the end of bar 166. According to us, it is above all a consequence of an inaccuracy of the engraver who, in the entire middle section of the Scherzo, placed the slurs of the L.H. only in three lines (bars 141-166), embracing the middle section with a changed texture (in D  major);
• GC (→GE) includes a much more abundant slurring – one-bar slurs in bars 81-86, 162-163 and 171 and longer phrase marks in bars 96-100, 104-108, 132-137, 164-166 and 172-177 (the three latter to the 1st crotchet of the last-mentioned bar). The absence of slurs in bars 87, 88-92, 124-128 and 167-168 may be explained with an oversight of the copyist or Chopin in [A]; the latter seems to be likely particularly in bars 167-168;
• EE feature one-bar slurs in bars 81-87 and several-bar-long ones everywhere where corresponding phrases occur – in bars 88-92, 96-100, 104-108, 124-128, 134-137, 164-168 and 172-177. The slurring was almost certainly added by Chopin in the base text to EE1. It is indicated by, on the one hand, a general compatibility with GC, as far as the places in which the slurs were added are concerned (including leading the slurs to the beginning of bars 137 and 177), and, on the other hand, differences proving an independent character of both sources, e.g., the moment of starting the majority of slurs). Placing slurs in bars 99-100 and 134-137 over the part of the R.H. is certainly a consequence of a misunderstanding at the time of interpreting Chopin's entries.

The described state of the sources allows for the following observations and conclusions:

• Separate slurs in each of bars 81-87 were undoubtedly written as a model for all similar figures in this context. A similar function is probably performed by the slurs of GC in bars 162-163, although the presence of a slur also in bar 171 may mean that in the last two phrases Chopin wanted to mark slurs in all bars of this type, yet the slur in bar 169 (and in bar 170, being its repetition) was overlooked.
• In bars 88-92 and analog. the progression of the top most notes written on the bottom stave is to be embraced with one slur, ca. five-bar-long. All deviations from this rule are of an undoubtedly accidental character.
• The main problem is to resolve whether in all the above situations the slurs are to start from the 1st or the 2nd crotchet of the bar (a similar difficulty appears in Chopin's pieces on a number of occasions, even if we dispose of a preserved autograph – cf. the Mazurka in G minor, Op. 24 No. 1, bar 21).
  – In EE the beginnings of the slurs are always placed over the 2nd crotchet of the bar, however, it is not absolutely certain whether Chopin's entries were actually so unambiguous or whether they were interpreted so.
  – The notation of [A] rather suggested beginning the slurs from the 1st beat of the bar, particularly the one-bar-long ones. This is how the only slur in FE and the majority of the slurs in GC start – out of seven written out bars with one-bar-long slurs (bars 81-84, 162-163 and 171) only the slur in bar 82 runs clearly from the 2nd crotchet, while out of five phrase marks three clearly start from the 1st beat of the bar (the appearing differences are of, according to us, an accidental nature).

One also has to discuss the range of unifying the notation of the slurs. According to us, there are no grounds to question a unified treatment of all bars embraced with separate slurs. Similarly, all phrase marks have to begin either from the 1st or the 2nd crotchet of the bar. In turn, it is not said that both groups of slurs are to be considered together in this regard. The appearing at the beginning of subsequent bars bass notes emphasise the swinging, dance-like character of the accompaniment, in which the melodic motif of the top notes of the chords does not play the leading role. The several-bar-long slurs separate the melodic progression, moving to the foreground in the accompaniment, after the bass voice became silent. Therefore, conciliation of the slurs in bars 81-87 and analog., embracing entire bars, with the slurs in bars 88-92 and analog., beginning from the 2nd beat of the bar, seems to be entirely possible.

To sum up, we find three versions of slurring of these bars to be possible:

1. A unified slurring, in which both one-bar-long slurs and several-bar-long ones begin from the 1st beat of the bar – the main text on the basis of GC (→GE) and FE.
2. A unified slurring with slurs beginning from the 2nd beat of the bar – EE.
3. One-bar-long slurs from the 1st beat of the bar, several-bar-long slurs from the 2nd beat of the bar – on the basis of an alternative interpretation of the slurs of GC, supported with the notation of EE (for several-bar-long slurs).

Compare the passage in the sources »

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Errors in GE, GE revisions, Authentic corrections of EE

notation: Slurs

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