The sign visible in A over the f2 minim may be considered a short or long accent. According to us, the use of a long accent is more likely; however, in GE it was reproduced as short. Moreover, it is difficult to say conclusively how further discrepancies between A and GE and GE and FE came to exist:
- the second accent, appearing in GE1 between staves, could have been added by Chopin. However, its presence in FE as the only accent may mean that in GE1 it was this sign that was initially printed and the accent over the minim was added only in the last stage of proofreading;
- on the other hand, the absence of the top accent in FE could have been simply a result of distraction of the engraver of FE (a possible Chopin proofreading seems to be highly unlikely in this case, for example due to the lack of traces of deletion of the accent).
In GE2, moving the accent between the staves so that it clearly concerns the L.H. is an arbitrary attempt to justify the presence of two signs.
The only undoubtedly authentic version is constituted by the notation of A; however, the remaining versions can also be considered acceptable, since each notation means more or less the same: each emphasises the entrance of a new, altered chord.
Compare the passage in the sources »
category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources
issues: Long accents, Errors in FE, GE revisions, Authentic corrections of GE
notation: Articulation, Accents, Hairpins