mUltimate Chopin

Op. 28 No. 8, Prelude in F♯ minor

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : FE revisions

b. 1-2

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

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FE erroneously gives d instead of c as the last L.H. quaver in each of these bars. The errors, caused probably by this note in bar 1 being written somewhat imprecisely in A (bar 2 is marked as a repetition of bar 1 in the manuscripts), were corrected in FE2 (→EE).

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Errors in FE , FE revisions

b. 3-4

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

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As was the case in the R.H. part, in A Chopin omits accidentals next to the quavers ending the four-note L.H. figures if they fall an octave lower than one of the preceding semiquavers. In the discussed bars, such a notation was repeated without changes in FC and FE1. Both necessary naturals – before g in b. 3 and f in b. 4 – were added in EE and GE2, whereas in the remaining editions only one natural was added, in GE1 in b. 3, while in FE2 in b. 4.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: EE revisions , Accidentals in different octaves , GE revisions , FE revisions , Inaccuracies in A , Errors repeated in GE , Errors repeated in FE

b. 4

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

a1 in A (→FC→GE1), literal reading

a1 in FE (→EE) & GE2 (→GE3)
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When interpreted literally, the version of A (→FC→GE1), in which the 4th demisemiquaver on the last beat of the bar is an a1, is most probably a mistake, although the interval structure of the four middle demisemiquavers (from the 3rd to the 6th in the eight-note figure) is strictly analogous to the seven preceding figures. It is indicated by a broader tonal context of this phrase and of the entire Prelude – the second of those four notes is never altered, while the key to which Chopin returns in the 2nd half of that bar is F minor, and not F major. A natural was added – most probably by Fontana – in FE (→EE); an identical addition was also introduced in GE2.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

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

b. 5

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

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In A there is no accidental before the 1st note in the 4th group of demisemiquavers, which should therefore be interpreted as a1. A comparison with analogous b. 1 proves Chopin's mistake; it is also the  before the next a2 that confirms a1 as the intended pitch of that note. The natural was added in FC and FE (→EE); however, it is absent in GE, which is probably an oversight of the engraver.
We omit the cautionary  before a2 in the main text.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources; Source & stylistic information

issues: Errors in GE , Cautionary accidentals , Errors of A , FE revisions , Fontana's revisions

b. 8

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

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In contrast with A, in FE (→EE) the last L.H. figure was written in the treble clef, thanks to which it was not necessary to repeat the flats next to the 2nd and 3rd semiquavers. However, FE1 misinterpreted the  before f1 as a , which changed that note into f1. The erroneous accidental was removed in FE2 (→EE). We reproduce both that mistake and the changed layout only in the graphical transcription ("transcription").

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: Errors in FE , FE revisions