Main text
Main text
A1 - Working autograph
CJ - Jędrzejewicz Copy
CK - Kolberg Copy
CB - Balakirev Copy
EL - First edition
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  b. 20

e-B slur in A1, literal reading

No slur in CJ & EL

d-c slur in CK, literal reading

Whole-bar slur in CB

g-B slur suggested by the editors

The slur in A1, which is of working nature, is written high above the notes, which rather excludes the willingness to precisely indicate its range. It is likely that Chopin wanted to emphasise the departure from the current scheme of half-bar accompaniment figures. Therefore, it can also be the 2nd or even the 1st quaver of the bar that can be considered the intended starting point. The same, to an even greater extent, applies to the slur of CK. Therefore, taking into account the musical and pianistic sense, one can allow for 3 possibilities of the range of this slur:

  • The slur of A1, from the 3rd quaver e, suggests a two-part approach to this transition: .
  • Our suggestion, from the 2nd quaver g, points to the part of the figuration dominated by the melodic character, which can be emphasised in a performance. Moreover, the g quaver opens a four-note g-e-d-c motif, which, repeated a third lower, leads the bass to the tonic of the key of A major, which opens the new section.
  • A bar-long slur (written in CB), which, in an authentic notation of the piece, draws the attention of the performer to the melodic distinctiveness of this bar, which leaves the interpretation of this figure's motivic structure to the discretion of the performer.

Compare the passage in the sources »

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources; Editorial revisions

issues: Inaccurate slurs in A

notation: Slurs

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