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Without an entry from the teaching copy |
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A possible interpretation of the entry |
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A less possible interpretation of the entry |
The elements entered into and above the R.H. part in FES are difficult to interpret. There are four of them there, namely:
- a vertical line in the middle of bar 49,
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a slur extending from the half of bar 49 to c
3 in bar 50, - a line in bar 50, as if prolonging the slur,
- a large sign over bar 50.
Each of these can have at least two different interpretations, of which only some form a coherent and meaningful whole. The most vital thing to decide is whether the slur (2) is just a performance marking suggesting e.g. sustaining the minim c2 and linking with the crotchet c3, or whether it is a simplified notation of an ornamental variant In the latter case, Chopin probably had in mind the figure simple enough to be left unwritten, e.g. a scale or an arpeggiated passage. The extent of the slur strongly suggests a scale, which leads us to the first of the published variants. The vertical line (1) may then be interpreted as a sign indicating the 1st note of the run (c2), and perhaps also a fingering numeral – 1.
As for the signs listed under 3 & 4, the line may be regarded a boldly written tenuto sign (Chopin used them occasionally, e.g. in the Concerto in F minor Op. 21, mvt. II, bar 86, and also in teaching copies – Ballade in G minor Op. 23, bars 194-198), and sign 4 a cross (?), 
(?) or 8. The last-mentioned option seems the easiest one to accept from the graphic point of view – cf. a clear 8 in bar 59 in FEJ.
category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources
issues: Annotations in teaching copies, Annotations in FES, Authentic post-publication changes and variants
notation: Pitch
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