It is unclear how Chopin wanted to mark the combination between b. 331 and 332 and 433 and 434. In A both places feature a mark that, according to us, is to be interpreted as a reversed long accent under the a1 crotchet. Such a mark indicates that an ascending secundal progression, crowned with an accent on the second note, should be expressively emphasised, in this case g
1-a1 of the R.H. bottom voice. Such marks are quite rare and generally result in misinterpretations: see the Concerto in E minor, Op. 11, II mov., b. 29. The same happened here: both the copyist and the engraver of FE reproduced it as a short 
hairpin between the 1st and 2nd beat of the bar, whereas in b. 434 it occupies a space equivalent to half a bar. Upon seeing the misunderstanding, Chopin replaced in b. 332 that mark in FC with a common long accent, which we give in the main text. There is still the question of whether the change was to be valid in both places according to Chopin or whether Chopin, by preserving different markings, wanted to suggest a performance detail or provide the performer with two indications in order to facilitate the understanding of his idea. In the main text we keep there the reversed accent written in A; however, we also suggest a common long accent as an alternative version. In GE the long accent was reproduced as short, like all accents in the C minor theme.
category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations
issues: Long accents, Authentic corrections of FC
notation: Articulation, Accents, Hairpins
Back to note