mUltimate Chopin

Op. 28 No. 21, Prelude in B♭ major

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Inaccuracies in FC

b. 19-23

composition: Op. 28 No. 21, Prelude in B♭ major

..

In A Chopin overlooked a few necessary flats in the R.H. part: in b. 19 d2, in b. 21 d3 and g2, in b. 22 d2 and d3. FC added only the first  in b. 21; in addition, the copyist overlooked the  of g2 in b. 23. FE also added only some of the necessary flats, next to d2(3) in b. 21-22, and – which is puzzling – also overlooked the  of g2 in b. 23. GE and EE added all necessary accidentals.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources

issues: EE revisions , Errors in FE , Accidentals in different octaves , GE revisions , Omission of current key accidentals , FE revisions , Inaccuracies in FC , Fontana's revisions , Inaccuracies in A , Errors repeated in FE

b. 33-36

composition: Op. 28 No. 21, Prelude in B♭ major

5 slurs in A, literal reading

5 slurs in A, contextual interpretation

5 slurs in FC

3 slurs in FE (→EE)

2 slurs in GE
..

In the main text we give a contextual interpretation of the slurring of A – we consider the bottom slur in b. 33, which closes the line, to be inaccurate, since it is too short (like in a few other places, see b. 1). The clearly extended slurs in subsequent analogous bars undoubtedly reveal Chopin's intention. However, this notation was not reproduced correctly in any of the sources, which may be explained by revision (in all cases), an erroneous interpretation (FC) or carelessness (GE).

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness

issues: Errors in FE , Inaccurate slurs in A , Errors in GE , FE revisions , Inaccuracies in FC , Uncertain slur continuation