The placement of the asterisks in A is questionable. The marks were being entered rather hastily, while the evaluation of their intended correlation with the time course of music is hampered due to the erroneous placement of the L.H. quaver rests with respect to the R.H. semiquavers – Chopin would enter rests more or less in the middle of the 2nd half of each bar. It leads to such situations as, e.g. in b. 3 and 15, in which the occurs before the L.H. rest (i.e. in the 1st half of the bar, actually), but under the 5th semiquaver in the R.H. Apart from a few exceptional situations, which we discuss separately (b. 13-14 and 29-32), one can state the following:
- All occur under the 5th semiquaver or later, whereby the majority – 15 out of 26 – concern the 6th semiquaver. Therefore, the differences are insignificant and are almost certainly accidental inaccuracies.
- The only place where Chopin deemed it necessary to correct the already written mark – in b. 23 – concerns the written at the end of the bar, after the 6th semiquaver; consequently, it was moved under the 5th semiquaver. According to us, Chopin most probably wanted to avoid the combination, which most often indicates a syncopated pedal change.
In the remaining sources the pedalling is – except for a few minor inaccuracies – fully unified, with an asterisk under the 6th semiquaver of each bar. It is generally compliant with the notation suggested by us; however, it can suggest the aforementioned continuous pedalling with changes under the bars, contrary to the intention of Chopin.
Compare the passage in the sources »
category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources; Source & stylistic information
issues: Inaccuracies in A
notation: Pedalling