Main text
Main text
½A - Semi-autograph
A - Autograph of the piano part
Morch - Manuscript of the orchestra part
GE - German edition
GE1 - First German edition
GE1a - Retouched impression of GE1
GE2 - Second German edition
FE - French edition
FE1 - First French edition
FE2 - Corrected impression of FE1
FED - Dubois copy
FEJ - Jędrzejewicz copy
FES - Stirling copy
EE - English edition
EE1 - First English edition
EE2 - Revised impression of EE1
EE3 - Corrected impression of EE2
compare
  b. 228

Pedalling in A & GE2

Pedalling in GE1 (→FE)

Pedalling in EE

Chopin pedal markings can be difficult to place, since the composer would often add them in haste, hence – inaccurately. Moreover, the signs are quite wide (particularly ), which raises doubts about which part of the sign marks the moment of pressing or releasing the pedal – the beginning, middle or end. There are also situations in which an entire sign is before the note it applies to, e.g. in bar 226. In the discussed bar, both signs are written in each half of the bar under the 3rd and 4th semiquavers. Assuming that Chopin wanted to hold with pedal a possibly full and clear sound of the diminished chord, without transition notes, we give the  signs under the 3rd semiquaver (among the first editions only GE2 has such a pedalling).

In GE1 (→FE) only the first  sign was reproduced like this; the second pedal embraces only the last group of semiquavers. EE has half-bar pedals, which is a totally arbitrary version and certainly incompatible with Chopin's intention. 

Compare the passage in the sources »

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: EE revisions, Inaccuracies in GE, Inaccuracies in A

notation: Pedalling

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