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Op. 28 No. 17, Prelude in A♭ major

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Issues : Changed phrase length

b. 31

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

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In FCI there is one other bar following b. 31, actually identical with the final version of b. 31 – the only difference is that the e2 minim is tied there and not played. In FCI this additional bar, which we mark as 31', differs from the previous one in the bass note having been moved an octave lower: in b. 31 it is e, while in b. 31' – E.  

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

issues: Changed phrase length

b. 83

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

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This bar is absent in FCI, which could be seen as one more example of haplography – cf. the versions of FC in the Prelude in G minor no. 12, b. 78-79 or in B major no. 21, b. 54. However, according to us, this version keeping a regular, two-bar gap also between the last strokes of the bass A1 (in FCI it is not repeated anymore in b. 88) suggests that this is the initial version, expanded later by Chopin:

  • he added a stroke of the bass note in b. 88 while gradually reducing its frequency;
  • he improved the combination of the main theme of the Prelude with the ending by repeating the motif twice as a calming factor, first to a two-bar section (b. 79-80 and 81-82) and then one-bar section (b. 82 and 83).

category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: Changed phrase length