mUltimate Chopin

Op. 28 No. 20, Prelude in C minor

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Errors in CGS

b. 1

composition: Op. 28 No. 20, Prelude in C minor

 in A (→FC→GE, →FE→EE), AB & CGS

in ACh

No marking in CGS
..

The  indication in ACh suggests a slightly different concept of the Prelude, less heroic and dramatic. It is not the only change with respect to the version of A – the cresc. in the last phrase starts in ACh one and a half bar earlier.
The missing indication in CGS must be an oversight – the copyist also forgot to write the time signature on the bottom stave. 

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Errors in CGS

b. 5-13

composition: Op. 28 No. 20, Prelude in C minor

Slurs to C1-C in A (→FC→GE, →FE→EE)

Slurs from 1st beat to C1-C & final chord (after AB)

Slurs from 2nd beat to C1-C & final chord in ACh, literal reading

Slurs from 2nd beat to C1-C in ACh, contextual interpretation

No slurs in CGS
..

In the main text we give the unequivocal phrase marks of A and the remaining sources stemming from it. The later autographs – AB and ACh – convey variants that do not seem to be simply inaccuracies of notation. As regards the longer phrase mark of AB – placed in the original in bars 5-9 of the 9-bar version of the Prelude – we admit it to the basic, 13-bar version as a variant of the slur in bars 9-13.
The phrase marks of ACh underline the beginning of the bass passus duriusculus; they also constitute the latest authentic variant concerning phrase marks in these bars. The ending of the phrase mark in b. 9-12 reaches b. 13, which, according to us, is an inaccuracy; however, when interpreted literally, it results in a variant combining both authentic versions of phrase marks.
The missing phrase marks in CGS must be one of numerous defects of that copy.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources; Editorial revisions; Corrections & alterations; Source & stylistic information

issues: Inaccurate slurs in A , Errors in CGS

b. 5

composition: Op. 28 No. 20, Prelude in C minor

 in A (→FC→GE, →FE→EE), AB & ACh

No marking in CGS
..

As was the case with b. 1, the missing  in CGS is most probably an oversight.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Errors in CGS

b. 12-13

composition: Op. 28 No. 20, Prelude in C minor

 in A (→FE)

No sign in FC (→GE), AB, ACh & CGS

  in EE
..

The position of the  mark is not strictly determined in A due to the missing musical text in the abridged marking of this bar. We assume the only reasonable solution, adopted in FE (→EE). The mark was omitted in the remaining autographs and overlooked by the copyists. EE arbitrarily added a  asterisk at the end of b. 13, almost certainly against the intention of Chopin – cf. the note to the Prelude No. 7 in A Major, b. 16.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: EE revisions , Errors of FC , Inaccuracies in A , Errors in CGS