The sources allow us to follow the process of evolution of dynamic markings in bars 39-46. At the stage of writing A Chopin drew the performer's attention to those bass notes that were struck when the right-hand part had rests or sustained notes (3 
in bars 41-43). Three further bass notes marking the stretto of the harmonic progression in bar 44 were furnished with accents. One could wonder whether the lack of an accent on e flat in bar 45 was intentional or whether Chopin forgot about it when he continued to write on a new page of A.
That notation was distorted to a considerable degree in GE1, in which the first and all the accents were omitted and the remaining two signs were placed in such a way that it was not obvious to which notes they related (this was corrected in GE2).
Chopin had that incomplete and unclear version before his eyes when he sat down to proof-read FE. He did not come back to his initial idea. He removed markings from the left hand, thus making them serve the sole function of reinforcing the highest notes in the right hand part. Instead, for the bass notes he used accents, emphasizing all the notes in the contra octave (7th semiquavers in bars 39-43) and newly appearing bass notes for subsequent chords (1st semiquavers of bars 41-43).
A thing worth noting is a certain switch between crescendo and accents: in the initial version crescendo began earlier, in bar 40, and accenting of bass notes later, in bar 41. In the later version accents appear as early as bar 39 and crescendo not until bar 41.
The change of shape of some accents in EE is one of more frequent arbitrary changes appearing in that edition.
Compare the passage in the sources »
category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations
issues: EE revisions, Inaccuracies in GE, Authentic corrections of FE
notation: Articulation, Accents, Hairpins
