mUltimate Chopin

Op. 28 No. 20, Prelude in C minor

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : EE revisions

b. 3

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

..

We add cautionary naturals before d and d1. The accidentals were also added in EE.

category imprint: Differences between sources; Editorial revisions

issues: EE revisions

b. 3

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

e1 in A (literal reading→FE,FC→GE), AB & EE2

e1 in ACh, CGS, EE1 & FES
..

According to us, it is much more likely that the missing  restoring e1, which would result in e1 at the end of the bar, is one of numerous such oversights of Chopin – see, e.g. the note to b. 8 and 12 as well as to the Prelude No. 7 in A Major, b. 13 or No. 18 in F Minor, b. 8. Therefore, we assume that the flats entered or added in ACh, CGS and FES define or restore the only correct text, which we adopt as the main one. However, the version with e1 has a consistent place in the history of music, e.g. as the theme of variations of Feruccio Busoni (BV 213a) and of Sergei Rachmaninoff (Op. 22).
The double revision in EE is noteworthy – first a  was added in EE1 and then it was removed in EE2.  

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Annotations in teaching copies , EE revisions , Omissions to cancel alteration , Errors of A , Annotations in FES

b. 7-12

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

ritenuto in bars 7-8 in A (literal reading →FC,FE→EE1)

ritenuto in bars 11-12 in GE

ritenuto in both places in EE2

No indication
in AB & ACh

ritenuto in bar 7
in CGS
..

Due to the fact that b. 9-12 were added in the last phase of composing the Prelude and due to the abridged notation of those bars in A, it is uncertain how many ritenutos Chopin planned and where exactly. There are three possibilities, all are present in the sources:

  • ritenuto only in b. 7-8, where it was written in the manuscripts. We can observe this version in FE (→EE1).
  • ritenuto only in b. 11-12, like in GE.
  • ritenuto in both places, which is in EE2; it compiles the versions of FE and GE.

According to us, musically speaking, it is the ritenuto in b. 11-12 that is most natural, where, along with crescendo, it leads to the final fermata. We suggest this version (based on the assumption that Chopin did not fully adjust the notation of the Prelude to the new formal concept) in the main text.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: EE revisions , GE revisions , Inaccuracies in CGS

b. 8-12

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

d1 in A (literal reading→FC,FE) & CGS

d1 in AB, ACh, GE, EE & FES
..

The missing  restoring d1 is almost certainly an oversight of Chopin in A (→FC,FE), which is proven by the naturals in AB, ACh and the one added in b. 8 in FES. The accidentals were also added by the revisers of GE and EE.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

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

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