mUltimate Chopin

Op. 28 No. 8, Prelude in F♯ minor

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Errors repeated in GE

b. 17

composition: Op. 28 No. 8, Prelude in F♯ minor

b1 in sources, contextual interpretation

a1 suggested by the editors
..

In all sources, the 3rd demisemiquaver in the 2nd group is a b1 (literal interpretation). It is the initial uncorrected version, left by inadvertence – in A, initially, the 3rd demisemiquaver in the first two figures of each of b. 15-18 was a b1, which Chopin then changed to a1 in 7 out of 8 places. Such an oversight in correcting one of a few analogous places would happen to Chopin on a few occasions. The fact that he forgot the discussed note while performing corrections is also evidenced by it having been left without a , which was before the respective note of the 1st group of the bar in the initial version.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Editorial revisions

issues: Omission of current key accidentals , Errors of A , Omitted correction of an analogous place , Errors repeated in GE , Errors repeated in FE , Errors repeated in EE

b. 19

composition: Op. 28 No. 8, Prelude in F♯ minor

..

None of the sources includes a  restoring b1 in the 3rd to last demisemiquaver. A comparison with two previous appearances of that bar – b. 1 and 5 (b. 2 is marked in an abridged manner as a repetition of b. 1) – proves that it was Chopin's mistake in A, not noticed in any of the remaining sources.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Editorial revisions

issues: Omissions to cancel alteration , Errors of A , Errors repeated in GE , Errors repeated in FE , Errors repeated in EE

b. 21

composition: Op. 28 No. 8, Prelude in F♯ minor

..

In the sources, there are no accidentals before the first and last notes of the 3rd L.H. figure. Therefore, the bottom one should be interpreted as a due to the  in the previous figure (it is particularly clear in the notation of the sources, in which the 3rd figure is still written in the bass clef). Naturally, it is Chopin's oversight – the harmonic context requires the notes to be interpreted as a1 and a; in such a situation, the top one does not need a , and Chopin considered an accidental next to the bottom one superfluous in such cases (cf. b. 3-4). In the main text we add a cautionary  also next to a1. 

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Editorial revisions

issues: Omissions to cancel alteration , Inaccuracies in A , Errors repeated in GE , Errors repeated in FE , Errors repeated in EE

b. 21

composition: Op. 28 No. 8, Prelude in F♯ minor

..

The fourth demisemiquaver of the 3rd group and the 3rd note of the 4th group should be interpreted in A (→FC→GE) as g2, since there are no accidentals next to them, and the note at this pitch in the 2nd group is provided with a . Both the harmonic context and the rule of the figurations' structure applied in a vast majority of the cases (cf. b. 4 and 13) are strong arguments in favour of the assumption that Chopin overlooked the  restoring g2. The accidental was added in FE (→EE). 

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Omissions to cancel alteration , Errors of A , FE revisions , Errors repeated in GE