mUltimate Chopin

Op. 28 No. 8, Prelude in F♯ minor

Text Compare Notes Sources Description
Select: 
Category
All
Graphic ambiguousness
Interpretations within context
Differences between sources
Editorial revisions
Corrections & alterations
Source & stylistic information
Pitch
All
Pitch
Rhythm
Slurs
Articulation, Accents, Hairpins
Verbal indications
Pedalling
Fingering
Ornaments
Shorthand & other
Importance
All
Important
Main
Undo Clear

Pitch

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

b. 22

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

..

The  (cautionary?) present in all sources before d1 in the 3rd L.H. figure is almost certainly a remaining part of the initial notation of the quavers in the 1st half of the bar, which were written down as d1. After the notation had been changed, the  was no more necessary, hence we omit it in the main text. In the same 3rd L.H. figure, one can see in A a crossed-out  before c2. The accidental is not necessary, yet, due to c3 in the R.H., we give it in the main text. It was most probably for the same reason that it was also added in FE2 (→EE), also in the 4th figure. EE repeated in the 4th figure also the  before d1.

category imprint: Editorial revisions; Corrections & alterations; Source & stylistic information

issues: EE revisions , Corrections in A , Cautionary accidentals , Deletions in A , Enharmonic corrections , FE revisions

b. 22

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

..

FE and GE did not use the abridged notation of the 2nd and 4th beats of the bar applied in A (→FC); however, none of the accidentals was repeated on those beats in FE1, which resulted in a mistake in the 4th R.H. group – first, c3 was not raised to c3, and then c3 was not restored. It was corrected in FE2 (→EE) by adding respective accidentals (the traces in some copies might be regarded as indicating that initially a  was also added before e3). In turn, GE repeated all accidentals in both hands, which is not a mistake, but it unnecessarily makes the notation denser. 

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Errors in FE , FE revisions

b. 23

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

d3 in A (→FC→GE1), literal reading

d3 in FE (→EE) & GE2 (→GE3)

Our variant suggestion
..

In A (→FC→GE1) there is no accidental before the 4th demisemiquaver in the 3rd group, as a result of which it is to be interpreted as a d3. In FE (→EE), as well as in GE2 (→GE3), a  was added, thus lowering it to d3. In this case, Fontana's addition seems arguable, since there is a number of source and music arguments for d3: 

  • the crossings-out and corrections visible in the adjacent bars prove that Chopin controlled the accidentals in A, cf. b. 22 and 24;
  • the use of d1 and d2 after the C minor chord in b. 24 was marked by Chopin with naturals both in the R.H., where this accidental is necessary, and in the L.H., where it is only of a cautionary nature;
  • Chopin used a similar combination of notes enclosing a major chord in b. 24 (a1 and c2 next to the G major chord).

However, since we cannot rule out an accidental oversight of a natural by Chopin in the discussed place (and hence the accuracy of Fontana's revision in FE), in the main text we include both possibilities in a variant form, giving preference to the literally interpreted version of A featuring a d3.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources; Editorial revisions

issues: Omissions to cancel alteration , GE revisions , FE revisions