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b. 272

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

Arpeggio sign, grace notes & accent in A & GE2

Grace notes & arpeggio sign in GE1

Arpeggio sign & grace notes in FE

Arpeggio sign & grace notes in EE

Arpeggio sign, grace notes & accent suggested by the editors

The arpeggio with grace notes is written in A in a legible manner, offering a clear image of the order in which the particular notes are to be performed – d¹-f¹-g¹-b¹-a¹. Unfortunately, the notation cannot be reproduced in print without considerably deforming the spaces between the notes, since the printed note heads are much wider than in Chopin's writing. However, the solution adopted in GE1 is misleading – it suggests a g¹-b¹-d¹-f¹-a¹ order. It provoked Chopin's proofreading in FE (→EE), as a result of which it is much easier to guess the correct performance. We give the latter, more graphically convenient than the version of A, in the main text.

Apart from the proofreading of the ornaments' notation, in FE (→EE) the division into voices of this chord was also changed – f¹, which in A (→GE) is a crotchet of the bottom voice, was assigned in FE to the top one, which shortened its value to a quaver. The difference, although subtle, could have been intended by Chopin, hence in the main text we also give this detail in the version of FE. The note, already as a quaver, was then extended in EE by adding a dot. According to us, also this version, although formally not coming from Chopin, can be a notation of his intention, actually the most precise one.