The motifs in the L.H. have double slurs in the sources – motivic and "triplet" slurs. In accordance with the General Editorial Principles, p. 16, in the main text we omit the latter. The fact that two motivic slurs of A were replaced with one phrase mark in GE (→FE→EE) was probably an arbitrary decision of the engraver of GE1:
- The slurs were corrected in A – Chopin divided the initial two-bar slur into two parts.
- Two-bar slurs are justified by the structure of the phrases, yet Chopin apparently did not see the need to mark this structure with one slur. Not including the discussed bars and their repetition, in which there are triplet slurs only, similar pairs of motifs are present in the entire 3rd mov. of the Concerto 12 more times (bars 177-182, 353-364 and 494-499), and in each of the cases, every bar-motif has a separate slur. Moreover, such an approach is evident from the pianistic point of view – a second bar starts with an accentuated sound, requiring a new impulse of the hand, which is exactly marked by a new slur.
On the other hand, it cannot be excluded that it was Chopin himself that returned to his original concept of one phrase mark in the proofreading of GE1. It could be related to, e.g. those features of the discussed bars that differentiate them from all similar places – lower register and performance by the L.H. However, according to us, such a possibility is much less likely.
Compare the passage in the sources »
category imprint: Differences between sources
issues: Inaccuracies in GE, Authentic corrections of GE, Triplet slurs
notation: Slurs