mUltimate Chopin

Op. 28 No. 15, Prelude in D♭ major

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Annotations in FED

b. 3-7

composition: Op. 28 No. 15, Prelude in D♭ major

Fingering written into FED

Fingering digit written into FES

No teaching fingering
..

In the main text we give the undoubtedly Chopinesque fingering entered into FED in b. 3 and 7. The key element of that fingering – the 4th finger for the g2 minim – was also added in FES. The 4th finger crossing over the 5th (typical of the Chopinesque fingering) and the 4th finger slipping down from a black to a white key were also indicated in analogous b. 22 and 78. See also b. 14, 15-16 and, e.g. the Sonata in B Minor, Op. 35, 3rd mov., b. 31 or the Nocturne in B Major, Op. 32 No. 1, b. 37.
According to us, indicating the 1st finger twice means that the notes should be performed by the R.H., but it is not explicitly marked (as it was done, e.g. in b. 9); they could also be performed by the L.H. However, the following reasoning is an argument in favour of the R.H. – all notes with beams on the bottom stave should be generally performed by the L.H., which, in this context, implies this very fingering, which, therefore, would not need to be marked at all. 

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Annotations in teaching copies , Annotations in FED , Annotations in FES

b. 9

composition: Op. 28 No. 15, Prelude in D♭ major

Fingering written into FED & FES

No teaching fingering
..

In the main text we give identical indications entered into FED and FES – a mark indicating that f1 should be performed by the R.H. and two fingering digits concerning the L.H.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Annotations in teaching copies , Annotations in FED , Annotations in FES

b. 11-12

composition: Op. 28 No. 15, Prelude in D♭ major

Fingering written into FED

Fingering written into FES

No teaching fingering

Fingering suggested by the editors
..

In the main text we give a fingering resulting from the complementary and partially identical entries in FED and FES. The constant position of the thumb on c2 is noteworthy. See also the fingering in b. 15-16 and 16-18.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Annotations in teaching copies , Annotations in FED , Annotations in FES

b. 12

composition: Op. 28 No. 15, Prelude in D♭ major

c1 in A (literal reading→FE,FC→GE1)

c1 in EE, GE2 (→GE3), FED & FES
..

The version of A (→FE,FC→GE1), without a  before the 3rd quaver in the bar, almost certainly resulted from Chopin's mistake, which is confirmed by the flats he wrote in FED and FES. In FC there is also no  before the 7th quaver, most probably due to an oversight, since in A the accidental is poorly visible due to the crossing-out showing through the page. Admittedly, both flats are visible on the photo of FC; however, they were added there much later by H. Scholtz, which explains the absence of the former in GE1 (the latter was added thanks to the  in the R.H.). The fact that those flats were added later is evidenced by their font (they are clearly bigger than the ones written by Fontana) and by the intensity of blackening, pointing to a pencil.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources; Source & stylistic information

issues: Annotations in teaching copies , EE revisions , Annotations in FED , GE revisions , Omission of current key accidentals , Errors of A , Annotations in FES , Errors of FC , Errors repeated in FE

b. 14

composition: Op. 28 No. 15, Prelude in D♭ major

Fingering written into FED

No teaching fingering
..

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Annotations in teaching copies , Annotations in FED