mUltimate Chopin

Op. 28 No. 1, Prelude in C major

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Inaccuracies in FC

b. 2-32

composition: Op. 28 No. 1, Prelude in C major

Slurs from rest in A (→FE)

Slurs over semiquavers in FC (→GE) & EE
..

In b. 2-17, 22 and 28-32, in which the R.H. figure begins from the rest and is encompassed with one slur, the starting point of those slurs in A is unclear. The vast majority of the slurs begin over or even before the initial rest (b. 4, 10, 13-15), hence only the slurs in b. 5 and 17 seem to concern the notes only. The notation does not indicate an intention to differentiate between the range of those slurs (the differences are accidental inaccuracies); therefore, we consider that all of them encompass an entire bar. This is the version we give in the main text. On the other hand, Chopin would often write slurs with a flourish; consequently, we cannot rule out that it was also here that he wanted the slurs to encompass the 5-semiquaver figures only. This is how it was reproduced by Fontana in his copy, which was then repeated in GE. In turn, the notation of FE poses an analogous interpretative issue to the one in A – admittedly, the majority of the slurs begin over the rest (the ones in b. 28-32 even before), but the general picture is unclear, since the endings of those slurs also go far beyond the last semiquaver, which, of course, does not mean that they are supposed to reach further. In EE, based on FE, the slurs encompass the semiquavers only.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in FE , Inaccurate slurs in A , EE inaccuracies , Inaccuracies in FC

b. 12

composition: Op. 28 No. 1, Prelude in C major

..

In GE the middle note of the 2nd triplet is an erroneous d1. It is a consequence of the note having been inaccurately placed – too low – in FC.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in FC , Errors repeated in GE

b. 13-14

composition: Op. 28 No. 1, Prelude in C major

 before 4th semiquaver in A, literal reading

 under 6th semiquaver in FC (→GE) & FE (→EE)

 before 6th semiquaver suggested by the editors
..

In these bars the  asterisks are written closer to the beginning of the bar than in the remaining ones (cf. the note on b. 2-28) – the marks are placed at the end of the 1st half of the bar both with respect to the L.H. and the R.H. parts. It is striking that such a position of the  marks was not reproduced either in FC (→GE) or in FE (→EE). It suggests that at this point of the manuscript both the copyist and the engraver were already convinced of the accidental nature of even the more distinct differences in the position of the  marks. Taking into account the homogeneous texture of the Prelude and the close correlation of pedalling with the sound of the principal one-bar figure, we assume that such an explicit divergence from the pedalling markings of the remaining bars is highly unlikely. Due to this reason, in the main text we give pedalling markings analogous to the ones used by Chopin in the remaining bars, considering the actual notation of A an acceptable variant, although probably unintended by Chopin. 

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in FE , Inaccuracies in FC , Inaccuracies in A