A - Autograph
| Date: | 22 I 1839 |
| Title: | 24 Préludes |
| Dedication: | Son ami J. C. Kessler |
Autograph fair-copy of all 24 Preludes, sent from Majorca on January 22, 1839 to Julian Fontana for copying. A served as the basis for the first French edition. Many deletions and corrections together with a considerable number of various errors and inaccuracies represent the work devoted by Chopin to A but also the effort the completion of such a large manuscript demanded from the ailing composer. A more detailed description of A as a whole – see Prelude in C no. 1.
In the Prelude in E
major, it is numerous corrections that draw our attention:
- 3-note R.H. slurs in b. 1-8 having been crossed out,
- pitch, e.g. in b. 18-20, 43-44,
- pedal markings, e.g. in b. 19
- the ending of the piece – changed pitch, arpeggios and grace notes having been crossed out.
As was the case with, e.g. the Prelude in F
minor No. 8, Chopin considered an accidental put before the first out of the two notes constituting an interval of an octave in the figuration to be valid also before the other one – see the note to b. 3.
The different shade of ink reveals that all pedal markings were added to the already finished Prelude, which contributed to a few inaccuracies (e.g. b. 7) or mistakes (b. 26-27).
| Original in: | Biblioteka Narodowa, Warsaw |
| Shelf-mark: | Mus. 93 |
