mUltimate Chopin

Op. 21, Concerto in F minor, Mvt III

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Errors of A

b. 481

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

No arpeggio sign in A

Arpeggio sign in GE (→FE→EE)
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The missing arpeggio mark in A before the 1st chord in the L.H. is a patent mistake, corrected already in GE (→FE→EE).

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: GE revisions , Errors of A

b. 481

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

..

In the last chord in the L.H., A does not have signs returning g and b. This patent inaccuracy, probably caused by crossings-out and changes (the crossed out chord sounded e-a-c1-g1), was corrected already in GE (→FE→EE). EE added also a cautionary  before g3.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources; Editorial revisions

issues: EE revisions , Omissions to cancel alteration , Errors resulting from corrections , GE revisions , Errors of A

b. 486

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

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A (→GE1→FE1) features a d2 as the last quaver. At the same time, one can see that initially the entire last triplet was written a second lower – c1-d1-d2. Chopin corrected the first two quavers and most probably overlooked the third one, being in haste. Such a scenario is confirmed by the proofreading of FE2 (→EE) – almost certainly authentic – in which the note was changed to e2. An identical correction was performed in GE2, too.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Corrections in A , Errors resulting from corrections , GE revisions , Errors of A , Authentic corrections of FE

b. 489-490

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

Semiquavers in A, contextual interpretation

24 demisemi­quavers in GE1 (→FE→EE)

24 demisemi­quavers in GE2
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In this place, Chopin wrote a combination of trill with tremolando (cf. 1st mov., bar 335) in a precise manner, with notes, determining even the number of touches (in each bar 3 groups of 4). However, he committed a mistake while marking their value as demisemiquavers instead of semiquavers, which may suggest twice the number of required notes. This is how this mistake was revised in GE (→FE→EE), increasing the number of touches to 8 in each of the groups. It resulted in an unreasonable notation, since it is impossible to perform a thick tremolando in the tempo marked by Chopin, or even close to the Chopinesque one.
According to us, it was the piano reality that induced Chopin to apply a different notation than in the aforementioned situation from the 1st mov. of the Concerto (used then two more times in the 1st mov. of the Concerto in E minor, op. 11) – using trill in the notation suggests a certain freedom in the choice of the number of performed oscillations, whereas in the discussed place the fast tempo does not allow such a freedom.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: GE revisions , Rhythmic errors , Errors of A

b. 492

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

f-a in [ReF]

e in Morch

e-b in A (contextual interpretation→GE→FE1→EE)

f-b in FE2
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The tonic chord in the second inversion in [ReF] must be the original version of this quaver, eventually rejected by Chopin, since all the remaining sources feature a dominant chord in this place. According to us, the corrections introducing a new concept in the orchestral part were not entirely controlled by Chopin, which manifested itself in the omission of the seventh in Morch among others. However, the seventh is present in the piano reduction of A and in all editions. In the last phase of proofreading of FE2, the composer introduced another change, replacing the third of the chord with a transitory fourth. We include the latest, probably final, version in the main text.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Interpretations within context; Differences between sources; Editorial revisions; Corrections & alterations

issues: Foreign hand additions in manuscripts , Errors of A , Accompaniment changes , Authentic corrections of FE , Authentic corrections of GE