mUltimate Chopin

Op. 28 No. 6, Prelude in B minor

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Errors of FC

b. 8

composition: Op. 28 No. 6, Prelude in B minor

  in A (→FE→EE)

No markings in FC (→GE) & CGS
..

The lack of   hairpins in FC (→GE) is most probably an oversight by the copyist.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Errors of FC

b. 19

composition: Op. 28 No. 6, Prelude in B minor

c1-f1 in A

c1-g1 in FC (→GE), FE (→EE) & CGS
..

We give c1-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.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Errors in FE , Inaccurate note pitch in A , Errors of FC

b. 23-26

composition: Op. 28 No. 6, Prelude in B minor

in A (→FE→EE)

No sign in FC (→GE) & CGS

   in EE
..

The missing  mark in FC (→GE) is almost certainly a result of an oversight of the copyist. The omission of the mark in CGS is most probably of a similar nature. The addition of the  mark in b. 26 must be a revision of EE, quite frequent in Chopinesque first editions – cf., e.g. the Prelude in C Major, No. 1.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: EE revisions , No pedal release mark , Errors of FC

b. 25-26

composition: Op. 28 No. 6, Prelude in B minor

Slur in A (→FE→EE) & CGS

No slur in FC (→GE)
..

The missing slur is one of a few oversights of Fontana in this Prelude – cf. b. 8 and 22.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Errors of FC