mUltimate Chopin

Op. 28 No. 5, Prelude in D major

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Inaccuracies in FE

b. 1-5

composition: Op. 28 No. 5, Prelude in D major

Pedalling in A, contextual interpretation

Pedalling in FC

Pedalling in FE (→EE)

Pedalling in GE
..

The differences between the sources result from mistakes and inaccuracies of both the copyist and the engravers of FE and GE. However, the issues concerning the decipherment and the interpretation of A were caused by, e.g. a dense notation, without spaces between the staves – actually, in A there is no space for pedalling markings, added later, which resulted in them being placed inaccurately at times. The interpretation of A given in the main text corrects the position of the  marks in b. 1-2 and 5 – according to us, in A they are placed before the notes they concern, i.e. A (cf. the markings in analogous figures in b. 3-4) or D. We also move the  marks, which precede them, accordingly. See also b. 17 and 18-20.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in FE , Errors in GE , GE revisions , Inaccuracies in FC , Inaccuracies in A

b. 14-16

composition: Op. 28 No. 5, Prelude in D major

Pedalling in A (probable interpretation→FC)

Pedalling in FE

Pedalling in GE

Pedalling in EE
..

At times, the pedalling of A is difficult to interpret here due to a dense notation and crossings-out. The  mark can be particularly troublesome, since it encompasses two notes sometimes. In the main text we give a version that is compatible with the notation and that includes the harmonic changes. This is how it was reproduced by Fontana in FC; however, neither FE nor GE repeated that version. The notation of EE is also noteworthy: a  mark at the beginning of the bar is followed by two  marks, one in the middle and the other at the end of the bar. The above situation can be observed three times.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in GE , Inaccuracies in FE , Errors in EE , Inaccuracies in A

b. 29-32

composition: Op. 28 No. 5, Prelude in D major

Pedalling in A

Pedalling in FC

Pedalling in FE

Pedalling in GE

Pedalling in EE
..

In these bars, in spite of the strict analogy to b. 13-16 (except for the first two and the last semiquavers), Chopin wrote a different pedalling. Due to a dense notation and the use of an abbreviation in b. 32, it posed, however, similar challenges in its interpretation. The copyist considered – and rightly so – that leaving the last  mark written by Chopin (in b. 31) without a  mark is an inaccuracy, which he tried to fix by adding a  at the end of b. 31. However, that does not remove the inaccuracy if the markings in b. 32 are to be repeated – if such was the case, a  mark would be missing at the beginning of b. 32. The above is probably the reason why the pedalling in b. 32 was completely omitted in GE. According to us, Chopin's intention was interpreted correctly in FE, which repeated the markings from b. 31 in b. 32 and added a  mark at the end of it. Moreover, in FC (→GE) the  mark at the end of b. 29 was placed – contrary to A – under the last semiquaver. In FE it is also the marks at the end of b. 30 and 31 that were reproduced like that. EE stand out due to an erroneous omission of pedalling starting from the 3rd beat of b. 30.

See also b. 1-4. 

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in FE , Fontana's revisions

b. 33

composition: Op. 28 No. 5, Prelude in D major

 from mid-bar in A

 from beginning of bar in FC (→GE) & FE (→EE)
..

An earlier starting point of the  hairpin than in A seems to be an almost insignificant inaccuracy. However, the notation of A may suggest a certain detail, e.g. a correspondence between crescendo and the presence of the separated middle voice, hence in the main text we leave it unchanged. The inaccuracy of both FC and FE shows that adjusting longitudinal marks – hairpins, slurs – to rhythmic structures was not only a mannerism of engravers.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in FE , Inaccuracies in FC