mUltimate Chopin

Op. 21, Concerto in F minor, Mvt II

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Corrections in A

b. 62

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

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The notation of accidentals is less careful in this bar. The oversight of the  lowering g to g in the group of 9 notes in the L.H. in A is a patent mistake; the sign was already added in GE1 (→GE2,FE→EE). In some of the sources, the missing  before the 2nd note in the L.H. on the 4th beat of the bar results from a different convention of accidentals' validity – in A Chopin deleted this sign, considering the  before the crotchet on the 3rd beat to be valid. In turn, the absence of flats lowering g1(2) to g1(2) on the 4th beat in A (→GE→FE) is a patent oversight – the fact that Chopin must have heard the g here is supported by the notes' uninterrupted presence from the end of bar 57 and by the use of cautionary naturals before G and g at the beginning of bar 64. It is only EE that includes the fully correct notation, consistent with the contemporary conventions.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: EE revisions , Corrections in A , GE revisions , Omission of current key accidentals , Last key signature sign

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. 78

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

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In A one can see a pitch correction of the trilled crotchet, from b1 to a1. Such an uncorrected mistake, consisting in writing the upper second, from which in this context the trill starts, of the main note of the trill instead of the main one, happened to Chopin on a number of occasions, e.g. in the Bolero in A minor, Op. 19, bar 187 and in the Sonata in B minor, Op. 35, the 3rd mov., bar 20.    

category imprint: Source & stylistic information

issues: Corrections in A