Both in b. 11 and 19, the grace notes in A (→FE→EE) are non-slashed, whereas in FC (→GE) – slashed. Chopin would not always differentiate between both types of grace notes – there are numerous situations in which the context points to the use of a short grace note, in spite of it having been written down as a non-slashed one, e.g. Prelude No. 5 in D Major, b. 39 or the Mazurka in G Minor, Op. 24 No. 1, b. 41. In the Prelude, however, there are indications that Chopin did not mean a short grace note:
- the entries in FED, which come from Chopin, out of which the one in b. 19 undoubtedly indicates that the grace note is to be given a value of a common quaver (the entry in b. 11 is more difficult to interpret, but, according to us, it also points out to such a performance – one can see it as a quaver beam and an accent);
- two quavers present in analogous places – in b. 10 and 18 – in As.
On the other hand, the notation with a grace note offers a certain freedom in the rhythmic implementation of this motif. One can assume that Chopin's intervention during a lesson, written down in FED, was supposed to correct the too short performance of the grace note, most probably as if it were slashed – quickly, lightly and anticipated (the collection of teaching copies of Mrs Dubois is plenty of synchronization marks, correcting the anticipated performance). Taking into account the above, we recommend a delicate yet uneven division of the crotchet – 
.
We give the variants resulting from the above differences of notation in the notes to b. 10-11 and 18-19.
Compare the passage in the sources »
category imprint: Differences between sources; Source & stylistic information
issues: Annotations in teaching copies, Annotations in FED, Non-slashed grace notes, Fontana's revisions
notation: Ornaments
