FCI - Fontana's copy of earlier version
| Date: | (1838) |
| Title: | 3me Prélude de Chopin |
| Dedication: | None |
A copy of Fontana most probably performed on the basis of [AI] – a lost autograph of an earlier version of the Prelude. The copy must have been prepared before Chopin's departure to Majorca, i.e. at the beginning of October 1838 at the latest. On the other hand, the title in which the Prelude had already been named and had its place within the cycle of – most probably 24 – pieces suggests that this version was not created much earlier than the final one. Moreover, certain elements of notation of FCI found their way to A, where they were changed to the final version, e.g. in b. 3.
FCI contains a significantly greater number of performing indications than the final version, mainly dynamic ones – verbal indications, hairpins, accents. It was most probably related to the slower tempo (Moderato and not Vivace), hence to a different character of the music. It does not have to mean that Chopin changed the concept of the piece at some point – FCI could be a copy of an autograph-gift, with a set of indications carefully chosen to match the preferences of the addressee and irrespective of the consistency requirements of the cycle.
As far as pitch and rhythm are concerned, it is mainly numerous rhythmic differences in the R.H. part that are noteworthy – with respect to the final version, FCI includes a smaller number of rests, e.g. in b. 3-6 and analog., and a smaller number of semiquavers, e.g. in b. 7 and 9 or 16 and 20-25.
| Original in: | Fryderyk Chopin Museum, Warsaw |
| Shelf-mark: | M/340 |
