mUltimate Chopin

Op. 21, Concerto in F minor, Mvt I

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Errors of A

b. 119-120

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

f in sources, literal reading

f, contextual interpretation suggested by the editors
..

There is no accidental before the 4th semiquaver in the 2nd half of bar 119, which means that it should be read as f3. Similarly, in the next bar a corresponding note, when interpreted literally, is an f2. What is more, in FED Chopin added fingering over the discussed note and did not question its sound. In spite of this, an oversight of naturals returning f3(2) seems to be highly likely: 

  • the preceding f is included in the fragment of a chromatic scale and most probably both Chopin and the pupil considered them not as a separate alteration, but as a part of the chromatic sequence from f to c.
  • reaching the discussed notes, both Chopin writing A and the pupil performing at the lesson were already most probably thinking about the last crotchet in the bar with its clearly diminished four-note chord, including an f, and not an f.

Taking into account the above, in the main text we add naturals before those notes.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Omissions to cancel alteration , Errors of A

b. 128

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

..

In A there is no accidental before the 2nd crotchet of the middle voice. It is certainly an oversight – d2 was already at the beginning of the 2nd half of the previous bar, suggesting a modulation to E major (the suggestion is even clearer in an analogous phrase in bars 275-276). The naturals are explicitly present in the four remaining similar places (bars 40, 48, 136 and 284). The sign was added already in GE1 (→FE→EE, →GE2), perhaps as a result of Chopin's intervention.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Omission of current key accidentals , Errors of A , Authentic corrections of GE , Last key signature sign

b. 139

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

..

In A Chopin overlooked the  restoring a1, which was not noticed in any of the editions. Similarly in analogous bar 287.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Editorial revisions

issues: Errors in FE , Errors in EE , Omissions to cancel alteration , Errors in GE , Errors of A

b. 139

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

..

In A Chopin overlooked the  returning d2. The patent error was corrected in EE2 (→EE3) and GE2. A flat was added also – probably by Chopin – in FED.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Annotations in teaching copies , EE revisions , Annotations in FED , Omissions to cancel alteration , GE revisions , Errors of A , Errors repeated in GE , Errors repeated in FE , Errors repeated in EE

b. 164

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

No slurs in A

Slurs from 1st quaver in GE1 (→FE→EE)

Slurs from 2nd quaver in GE2
..

The absence of slurs in this bar is undoubtedly Chopin's mistake in A. The slurs – half-bar-long – were added already in GE1 (→FE→EE), by analogy with adjacent bars. However, it is highly unlikely that such a range would correspond to Chopin's intention – cf. bar 159.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: GE revisions , Errors of A