mUltimate Chopin

Op. 21, Concerto in F minor, Mvt I

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Inaccuracies in GE

b. 109-110

composition: Op. 21, Concerto in F minor, Mvt I

d2-d2  (?) in A, literal reading

d2-d2 in A (contextual interpretation→GE→FE→EE)
..

In both bars there are no accidentals both before the 12th and the 13th semiquavers in A. The flats added in the proofreading of GE (→FE→EE) – almost certainly by Chopin – confirm that we are dealing here with a rare case of a fourfold composer's error, who overlooked both the naturals altering d2 to d2 and flats returning d2. Both necessary naturals were added in EE and the first of them (in bar 109) also in GE2. This kind of mistake may seem implausible, yet in the notation of A, in which the 2nd and 3rd groups of semiquavers are written an octave lower with the use of the octave sign, the error does not seem so striking:

  • the discussed notes are not next to each other, hence a juxtaposition of two identical notes, which do not have accidentals, yet they sound differently, is absent;
  • naturals before d2 seem to be obvious after naturals in both hands in the 1st half of each bar;
  • d2 are sounds of the fixed, current key, F minor, hence the absence of flats is a typical Chopin oversight of cancelling alterations.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: EE revisions , Accidentals in different octaves , Inaccuracies in GE , Omissions to cancel alteration , GE revisions , Errors of A , Authentic corrections of GE

b. 110-111

composition: Op. 21, Concerto in F minor, Mvt I

f repeated in A (→GE)

f tied in FE (→EE)
..

The missing tie of f is probably an oversight of Chopin in A (→GE). It is indicated by the tie of this note in an analogous situation in the previous bar and it is confirmed by the Chopin proofreading of FE (→EE). After all, who knows whether the slur led under notes, combining the last chord in bar 110 with the first one in 111, is not an echo of the Chopin proofreading too: Chopin, as was his custom, could have written a short tie next to the target note, whereas the engraver of GE1 interpreted it as a motivic slur (see the note in bars 109-110).  

category imprint: Differences between sources; Editorial revisions

issues: Inaccuracies in GE , GE revisions , Errors of A , Authentic corrections of FE , Authentic corrections of GE

b. 110

composition: Op. 21, Concerto in F minor, Mvt I

Long accent in A

Short accent in GE1

Short accent in FE (→EE)

Short accent in GE2
..

The long accent over the penultimate semiquaver was erroneously reproduced in GE1 as a short accent under the last note. In FE (→EE) the accent was placed under the 1st note of the last four semiquavers, which may be a result of Chopin's proofreading. In the main text we give the version of A, since it is uncertain whether Chopin actually changed his mind on accents in the ending of this bar; even if it was him that corrected the text of FE in this place, he would be changing the erroneous accent adopted from GE1 and not the text of A. 

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Long accents , Inaccuracies in GE , GE revisions , Authentic corrections of FE

b. 110

composition: Op. 21, Concerto in F minor, Mvt I

Short slur in A

No sign in GE (→FE→EE)
..

The slur over the first two semiquavers, visible in A, was overlooked in the editions: the engraver of GE1 may have considered it an insignificant, accidental touch of quill. According to us, such a possibility is viable, hence we do not include it in the main text. 

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in GE , Inaccurate slurs in A

b. 111

composition: Op. 21, Concerto in F minor, Mvt I

Slur to penultimate quaver in A

Longer slur in GE (→FE→EE)
..

The longer slur of GE (→FE→EE) is probably a typical inaccuracy of the engraver of GE1, yet fingerings added here later by Chopin – on the last quaver in the proofreading of FE (→EE) and on the first sixth in FED – allow to consider this slur to have been accepted by the composer.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in GE