mUltimate Chopin

Op. 28 No. 17, Prelude in A♭ major

Text Compare Notes Sources Description
Select: 
Category
All
Graphic ambiguousness
Interpretations within context
Differences between sources
Editorial revisions
Corrections & alterations
Source & stylistic information
Notation
All
Pitch
Rhythm
Slurs
Articulation, Accents, Hairpins
Verbal indications
Pedalling
Fingering
Ornaments
Shorthand & other
Importance
All
Important
Main
Undo Clear

b. 22

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

..

In FCI there are no sharps before the middle note of the 2nd L.H. quaver (c1) and before the outer notes of the 3rd quaver (g and g1). In the final version Chopin corrected that patent inaccuracy.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Accidentals in different octaves , Omission of current key accidentals

b. 23

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

..

A natural before the bottom note of the 1st bottom R.H. voice quaver (e1) is present only in EE, the only one in which this patent inadvertence of Chopin was corrected. Similarly, the  before the bottom note of the 2nd L.H. quaver (b), overlooked in A (→FE,FC→GE), was supplemented only in EE. As far as FCI is concerned, it is difficult to decipher the accidentals here based on the photocopy available to us – it seems that out of 3 necessary accidentals, the top one was overlooked, raising a1 to a1.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: EE revisions , Accidentals in different octaves , Omission of current key accidentals , Inaccuracies in A , Errors repeated in GE , Errors repeated in FE

b. 24-25

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

2  in A

2   in FC (→GE) & FE (→EE)
..

The version of A – without  asterisks in the second halves of the bars – seems to be intended by Chopin, who crossed out the  under the 6th quaver in b. 24. However, one cannot rule out the composer's mistake – the crossing-out means that the  placed analogously to the one in the 1st half of the bar is wrong, since the entire 2nd half is based on one chord (D major). Chopin could have planned to add it somewhere else, probably later, which he, however, did not do due to distraction. Due to the above reason, in the main text we give the pedal markings as supplemented by Fontana both in FC (→GE) and FE (→EE).

category imprint: Differences between sources; Editorial revisions; Corrections & alterations; Source & stylistic information

issues: Deletions in A , FE revisions , Fontana's revisions

b. 24-25

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

in FCI

dim. - - - in A (→FC→GE, →FE→EE)
..

The  marking represents an earlier, less developed dynamic concept – the next indication in FCI would be the whole-bar  mark over the R.H. part in b. 32, in the final version replaced with a long accent in the middle of that bar. In A, in the discussed bars, Chopin initially wrote other markings too – two more or less whole-bar  marks. 

category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations; Source & stylistic information

issues: Corrections in A , Deletions in A

b. 24-25

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

..

In the main text we omit the sharps before the outer notes of the chords on the 5th L.H. quaver, unnecessarily repeated in the final version in both bars, while in FCI in b. 24. 

category imprint: Differences between sources; Editorial revisions

issues: Cautionary accidentals