In this section, an identical harmonic and melodic scheme appears four times – in b. 44-45, 54-55, 78-79 and 86-87. Chopin wrote there as many as 8 pedalling markings, four in each of the two Stichvorlage autographs, AF and [AG] (→GE). In two places – in b. 44-45 in AF and 86-67 in GE – one pedal encompasses two bars; in the remaining cases, one-bar pedals are used. According to us, there are two basic possible explanations for this situation:
- This is how Chopin envisioned the performance of this section, with one pair of bars provided with different, longer pedalling markings. It seems that this solution is supported by the crossing-out of the
mark in b. 46 in AF, proving the choice of a longer pedal here. Therefore, the difference between the sources is to be interpreted as evidence of two authentic pedalling concepts – AF with longer pedal at the beginning of the B major section (following the four-bar pedal constituting the sound of a G
major chord) and GE with longer pedal at the end thereof (before the four-bar pedal on the G major chord). - Chopin initially hesitated between the two versions of pedalling in these pairs of bars; eventually, he opted for one-bar pedals. The correction in b. 46 in AF would be then evidence for a merely temporary change of concept, while the two-bar pedal in b. 86-87 in GE could be interpreted as, e.g. one of the analogous places having been overlooked while implementing corrections (assuming corrections in [AG]).
Stylistically speaking, we consider the use of unified, one-bar pedalling in all four places to be the most likely. A longer pedal is then reserved for the G minor phrase in b. 58-59. In turn, out of the two versions featuring different pedalling, we consider the version of GE to be more justified, in which the two-bar pedal is used as diversification of the last appearance of this two-bar section, complementary to the rhythmic variants in the melody in b. 85 and 87, and preparing the culminant phrase in b. 89-92 in terms of sound.
Taking into account the above observations and analyses, in the main text we adopt the text of GE, supplemented in b. 86-87 with the pedalling of AF in a variant form.
category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations
issues: Corrections in A, Chopin's hesitations, Deletions in A, Omitted correction of an analogous place
notation: Pedalling
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