Interpretation of the mark entered by Chopin into FC is problematic. Placed under the top stave, like all other dynamic hairpins in this theme, it seems to fill almost an entire bar. It was interpreted as such in GE1; it is that literal interpretation that we assume as the text of FC. However, a comparison with analogous b. 95 allows us to recognise another interpretation: in both bars Chopin most probably meant a long accent. The flamboyantly written top arm of the hairpin starts before the minim, to which this mark undoubtedly applies; it is typical of the notation of long accents, cf., e.g. the mark in the next bar or precisely in b. 95. The bottom, shorter arm, written last, may be considered more reliable in terms of the intended length of the sign, and it is as long as the unquestionable long accent in b. 228. Due to the above reason, in the main text we reproduce the mark as a long accent, like in b. 95. GE2 (→GE3) also unified this mark with b. 95.
There is a similar situation in b. 678.
Compare the passage in the sources »
category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources
issues: Long accents, Scope of dynamic hairpins, GE revisions, Authentic corrections of FC
notation: Articulation, Accents, Hairpins