Issues : Chopin's hesitations

b. 11-13

composition: Op. 28 No. 2, Prelude in A minor

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In As one can see traces of corrections of the bottom note of the 2nd quaver in the 1st L.H. group in b. 11 and 13 and in the 2nd group in b. 12 (the remaining three groups of quavers are not written out in those bars). Chopin hesitated whether to write it as c or d. According to us, the corrections resulted in d in b. 11-12 and c in b. 13, and this is the notation we give as the text of As. It is worth noting that in both groups in b. 14 c was the first choice, hence it was not a result of corrections. In addition, while preparing a clean draft, Chopin opted for c in all those places.

category imprint: Corrections & alterations; Source & stylistic information

issues: Chopin's hesitations

b. 21

composition: Op. 28 No. 2, Prelude in A minor

e & B in As

E & B1 in A (→FCGE, →FEEE) & CGS

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The crossings-out visible in As reveal that the bottom voices of the chords in the 2nd half of the bar were changed twice. The initial version, which was crossed out, continued the previous harmonic filling of b. 19-21 (see the note in b. 19):
. Having forgone the accompaniment in the preceding bars, Chopin also crossed out the bottom notes of the crotchet chords, which resulted in a precise gradation of the number of voices: from one in b. 20, through two in the 1st half of b. 21, three and four in the 2nd half, to five and six in b. 22. In the final version, that effect was abandoned in favour of a bass line referring to the quaver figures in b. 18-19, like they refer – also preceded by a rest – to b. 15-16.

category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: Chopin's hesitations , Accompaniment changes