mUltimate Chopin

Op. 21, Concerto in F minor, Mvt I

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Long accents

b. 152

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

Long accent in A

Short accent in GE (→FE→EE)
..

The "model" long accent in A was reproduced in the editions as a short one. Similarly in bar 154 as well as in bars 302 and 304.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Long accents , Inaccuracies in GE

b. 159-161

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

Long accents in A

Short accents in GE (→FE→EE)
..

In bars 159-164, differentiation between long and short accents is unclear in A, yet the first three signs are evidently bigger or longer than the next two (see also bar 164). Since in an analogous fragment in the recapitulation (bars 309-314) the differences are entirely clear, in the main text we give here long accents too.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Long accents , Inaccuracies in GE , Inaccuracies in A

b. 164

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

Accent over c3 in A

Accent over third in GE (→FE→EE)

Our alternative suggestion (long accent)
..

The accent in A certainly concerns c3, and not the d2-f2 third, as it was reproduced in the editions (cf. analogous bar 314 in the recapitulation). It is also unclear what kind of accent Chopin meant here, long or short. The sign is very similar to the short accents at the beginning of bars 162 and 164, yet it also does not differ significantly from the long accents in bars 159 and 161. Since the accent in an analogous bar in the recapitulation is clearly long, we suggest a version with such an accent also in this place.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Long accents , Inaccuracies in GE

b. 182-184

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

Long accent in A

Short accent in GE (→FE)

Vertical accent in EE

Long accents suggested by the editors
..

The accent over the minim in bar 182 in A is undoubtedly long, which was not reproduced in the editions. According to us, the absence of the sign in an analogous situation in bar 184 must be considered Chopin's inadvertence – in Morch corresponding signs are in all parts performing this motif (cellos, double basses and trombones).

category imprint: Differences between sources; Editorial revisions

issues: Long accents , Inaccuracies in GE

b. 185

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

Long accent under L.H. in A

Accents on 2nd & 3rd R.H. quaver in GE1 (→FE)

Accents on 1st & 3rd R.H. quaver in EE

Short L.H. accent in GE2
..

In the main text we give the notation of A, the only authentic according to us. The versions of editions are a sequence of cumulative mistakes, inaccuracies, misinterpretations and arbitrary changes:

  • the most plausible explanation of the additional accent in GE1 is an unfinished proofreading – the erroneously printed accent on the 3rd quaver was left in spite of adding the correct sign on the 2nd quaver (see also the note on rhythm in this place). Moreover, both signs were printed too high, so that they seem to apply rather to the R.H., contrary to Chopin's intention, who wrote the accent in A under the crotchet in the L.H.;
  • in FE both accents already clearly apply to the R.H.; the first one was placed inaccurately, between the 1st and 2nd quavers;
  • EE added its portion of inaccuracies and arbitrary decisions, as a result of which, instead of the long accent on the 2nd quaver in the L.H., as it is in A, the edition gives two vertical accents, over the 1st and 3rd quavers in the R.H.;

GE2 generally restored the notation of A.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Long accents , EE revisions , Inaccuracies in FE , Errors in GE , GE revisions , EE inaccuracies , Partial corrections