mUltimate Chopin

Op. 28 No. 17, Prelude in A♭ major

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Errors of FC

b. 21

composition: Op. 28 No. 17, Prelude in A♭ major

Accent above a1 in A

No mark in FC (→GE) & EE

Accent under b in FE
..

The missing accent in FC (→GE) and EE are oversights of Fontana and of the engraver of EE. The mark having been moved to the side of noteheads in FE, i.e. in this case under the stave, is a frequent, routine revision; thus, the notation was left without a suggestion – certainly intended by Chopin – to accent the a1 note.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Placement of markings , Errors in EE , FE revisions , Errors of FC

b. 27-42

composition: Op. 28 No. 17, Prelude in A♭ major

..

As before, in A (→FC→GE) the majority of the groups of repeated quavers were written as dotted crotchets or minims provided with quaver tremolo marks. In A this is how the L.H. in b. 32-33 and in the 2nd halves of b. 27-31, 36-37 and 42 and the R.H. in the 1st half of b. 32 and in the 2nd halves of b. 27, 29, 31, 33-34 and 42 were marked. There is a similar situation in FC (→GE) – except b. 36, while in GE also except b. 27. In addition, in FC (→GE1) the tremolo beam in b. 33 was overlooked – see the note in that bar.

category imprint: Differences between sources; Source & stylistic information

issues: GE revisions , Abbreviated notation of A , Errors of FC

b. 33

composition: Op. 28 No. 17, Prelude in A♭ major

..

In FC (→GE1) the tremolo beam was omitted in the abbreviated notation of repeated quavers. As a result, the L.H. chord is played there only once, at the beginning of the bar. The mistake was corrected in GE2 (→GE3). The beam visible in FC – written most probably in pencil – is a later addition by H. Scholtz.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: GE revisions , Foreign hand additions in manuscripts , Errors of FC

b. 35-36

composition: Op. 28 No. 17, Prelude in A♭ major

Slur from 2nd quaver in A

No slur in FC (→GE)

Slur from first quaver in FE

Continued slur in EE
..

The slur of A begins from the 2nd quaver, which we give in the main text. In FE and EE the slur starts earlier (in FE from the 1st quaver, while EE continue the slur from the previous line), which we deem inaccurate. In FC (→GE) the slur was overlooked. As far as the ending of the slur is concerned, since in the entire Prelude it is slurs/tenutos that prevail in similar situations – see the note to b. 4-5 – to the main text we adopt such an interpretation, compliant with FE (→EE).

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources; Editorial revisions

issues: Inaccuracies in FE , EE inaccuracies , Errors of FC , Uncertain slur continuation

b. 43

composition: Op. 28 No. 17, Prelude in A♭ major

Arpeggio sign in A & FED

No sign in FC (→GE) & FE (→EE)
..

In A the arpeggio sign merged with the  before the second grace note (see the note on grace notes above), hence it was omitted both in FC (→GE) and FE (→EE). In FED Chopin added a diagonal slur to mark arpeggio.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Annotations in teaching copies , Errors in FE , Annotations in FED , Errors resulting from corrections , Errors of FC