mUltimate Chopin

Op. 21, Concerto in F minor, Mvt II

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Inaccuracies in GE

b. 65

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

Slur from 2nd note in A (→GE1)

Slur from 1st note in FE (→EE) & GE2
..

The moment of beginning the slur over the 2nd half of the bar is unclear both in A and in GE1 – we assume that it starts from the 2nd semiquaver. In the remaining editions, the slur starts from the 1st semiquaver, which can be considered an alternative interpretation of A. In EE and GE2 an analogous slur for the L.H. was added.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: EE revisions , Inaccuracies in GE , Inaccuracies in FE , Inaccurate slurs in A , GE revisions

b. 65-66

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

Slur up to crotchet in A, contextual interpretation

Slur up to end of bar in A (literal reading→GE→FE→EE)
..

It is uncertain whether the slur of A (→GE1) written in bar 65 is supposed to reach the beginning of bar 66 or not. In the main text we adopt the first possibility due to a number of corrections visible in A, in which the slurs were extended to the note ending the phrase, falling at the beginning of the bar (e.g. in bars 36-37 and 41-42).
In the remaining editions the slur ends with the last semiquaver in bar 65 and in EE and GE2 an analogous slur for the L.H. was added.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in GE , Inaccurate slurs in A , GE revisions

b. 69-70

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

Slur in A, literal reading

Slur in A, probable interpretation

Slur in GE (→FE→EE)
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When interpreted literally, the slur beginning in the half of bar 69 reaches the 2nd grace note in bar 70, which, however, cannot be musically explained, since the grace notes constitute the beginning of a trill. Therefore, we assume that it reaches further, to the trilled minim e2. On the other hand, it seems to be possible that Chopin meant a slur embracing the 1st minim only, ending the roulade in the previous bar. In GE1 and in the remaining sources, the slur embraces only the 2nd half of bar 69, which almost certainly does not correspond to Chopin's intention – adjusting slurs (as well as dynamic hairpins) to the main rhythmic units (e.g. bars or groups embraced with a beam) is a characteristic, routine manner of the engravers of GE. The slur was also added in the part of the L.H., which in this situation is most probably an arbitrary change.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in GE , Inaccurate slurs in A , GE revisions

b. 74

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

Indications in A. literal reading

Indications in A, contextual interpretation
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GE (→FE→EE) overlooked the dashes determining the range of diminuendo, which was rather a rule than an exception in the Concerto. The doubt about the placement of the rallentando indication, caused by a deletion in A, is of greater importance – it does begin after the 3rd beat of the bar, but also before the last beat. In the editions the first relation was included, yet in the main text we consider the second to be closer to Chopin's intention. 

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in GE , Corrections in A , Errors resulting from corrections , Inaccuracies in A

b. 75

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

in A (→GE1→FE→EE)

in GE2
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Placing the  sign only under the 4th demisemiquaver, as it is in A, is musically inexplicable. It is, according to us, related to the lack of space to write the indication at the beginning of the roulade or to the manner of placing indications in the middle of their scope of validity (and not at the beginning), sometimes used by Chopin. Taking that into account, in the main text we move the sign to the beginning of the 2nd half of the bar; a similar interpretation was performed in GE2. (In GE1 (→FE) the placement of the sign was reproduced slightly inaccurately, by shifting it a demisemiquaver to the left, which was changed in EE, probably by accident. We do not reproduce these differences, devoid of practical meaning, in the transcriptions).

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Editorial revisions

issues: Inaccuracies in GE , GE revisions , EE inaccuracies , Centrally placed marks