mUltimate Chopin

Op. 21, Concerto in F minor, Mvt I

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : EE revisions

b. 105

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

No slur in A (→GE)

Slur in FE, literal reading

Slur in EE

Slur in FE, interpretation suggested by the editors
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The slur under four quavers was undoubtedly added by Chopin in the proofreading of FE (→EE). However, the notation of FE does not clearly state whether the slur is actually supposed to concern the quavers of the top voice or of both; in other words, whether it is to start from the tied a quaver or from the e minim. In EE the slur was moved over the quavers, which, although graphically contrary to Chopin's notation, seems to be a skillful solution of this dilemma – the slur concerns the top voice, but it embraces the bottom one too. We suggest this solution as an alternative one in analogous bar 107.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: EE revisions , Authentic corrections of FE

b. 107

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

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In A (→GE1→FE) the dot extending the value of the crotchet was inadvertently written next to f1. The mistake was corrected in EE and GE2. The traces of erasures visible in A suggest that Chopin first inadvertently wrote dots next to both notes and then he mistook them again, deleting the one that should have stayed.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: EE revisions , Errors resulting from corrections , GE revisions , Rhythmic errors , Errors of A

b. 107-108

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

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In A (→GE1→FE→EE1→EE2) there is neither a  returning a2 in bar 107 nor a cautionary  before e3 in bar 108. In GE2 only the first was added and in EE3 – only the second.
In analogous bars 105-106, Chopin wrote in A both signs, which suggests that at the time of writing a repeating phrase, the composer's concentration broke (cf. bar 107). It increases the likelihood of oversights of ties at the end of bar 108.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: EE revisions , Omissions to cancel alteration , GE revisions , Cautionary accidentals , Errors of A , Errors repeated in GE , Errors repeated in FE , Errors repeated in EE

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)
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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. 109

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

No c1 in chord in A & FE (→EE1)

Chord with c1 in GE & EE2 (→EE3)
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GE has an additional note, c1, in the crotchet chord. The notation of A may be misleading here, yet Chopin's having deleted the note in the proofreading of FE (→EE1) is decisive. In EE2 (→EE3) the note was added under the influence of GE1.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: EE revisions , Errors in GE , Authentic corrections of FE , Uncertain notes on ledger lines , Inaccuracies in A