We give c
1-f1 as the 2nd crotchet of the bottom voice, after A. The version of the remaining sources, c1-g1, is probably a mistake – both of the copyist and the engraver of FE – which could have been provoked by two factors:
- the resemblance between b. 19 and 20;
- a slightly higher position of the top note of the dyad in A, which may imply g1. The suggestion is enhanced by the fact that the bottom voice was horizontally moved with respect to the a1 note in the top one, as if they were supposed to constitute the interval of a second. However, having reviewed the Prelude in this respect, one realizes that similar shifts occur as a minor inaccuracy without any relation to the interval of a second – cf. the 2nd beat of b. 1, 3 or 15. Moreover, wherever Chopin wrote the c1-g1-a1 chord right away, without corrections, he wrote the bottom voice to the left-, and not the right-hand side of the quaver in the top voice (b. 15 and 20).
The fact that Chopin meant here a f1 is also supported by a stylistic argument – in analog. b. 15, featuring a B minor chord on the 3rd beat (like the discussed bar and unlike similar b. 16 and 20), a f1 was used. On the other hand, the absence of corrections in the teaching copies suggests that Chopin accepted the version with g1 during lessons, which can thus be considered an acceptable variant.
Compare the passage in the sources »
category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources
issues: Errors in FE, Inaccurate note pitch in A, Errors of FC
notation: Pitch