mUltimate Chopin

Op. 28 No. 21, Prelude in B♭ major

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Errors of FC

b. 4

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

e1 on 6th quaver in A (→FE)

e1 on 6th quaver, L.H. finger 1 in EE1

e1 on 6th quaver, R.H. finger 2 in FES

e1 on 3rd beat, under slur in FC (→GE)

e1 on 3rd beat, no slur in EE2
..

Interpreting the top note of the 6th L.H. quaver, e1, as a R.H. crotchet on the 3rd beat of the bar is almost certainly Fontana's mistake. The copyist was most probably misled by the note having been written on the top stave, the poorly visible top fragment of the stem combining that note with c and the dot extending the g1 minim at the beginning of the bar having been crossed out in A (the crossing-out most probably provided for the discussed e1 to be performed with the right hand; in addition, it was probably to be completed by a crotchet rest, which Chopin, however, did not do). Having completed the rhythm of the R.H. melody with that note, Fontana also led to it the phrase mark encompassing the first phrase. The change in EE2 must have been introduced under the influence of GE1. In the main text we give the notation of A (→FE→EE1), supplemented by a crotchet rest.

To eliminate the possibility of creating incoherent combinations of variants from different notes, we include the fingering of EE and FES, which applies to the e1 quaver, here, in the variants including that quaver.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: EE revisions , Rhythmic errors , Deletions in A , Errors of FC , Inaccuracies in A

b. 4

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

..

In FC (→GE) the slur reaches e1, which is a crotchet on the 3rd beat of the bar in these sources (filling the bar after the g1 minim), and not the top note of the last L.H. quaver.
See the next note.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Errors of FC

b. 7-12

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

Slurs in A (→FE→EE)

No slurs in FC (→GE)
..

The missing L.H. slurs in FC (→GE) beginning in b. 7 and 11 (as well as 12 – see note in this bar) most probably resulted from the copyist's inadvertence.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Errors of FC

b. 12-13

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

No slur in FC (→GE)
..

In A, the slur starting in bar 12, last in line, indicates a continuation, but its ending is absent from bar 13. We adopt a natural contextual interpretation in accord with the FE (→EE) version. In FC (→GE), the copyist overlooked this slur like the previous one.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Inaccurate slurs in A , Errors of FC , Uncertain slur continuation

b. 13

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

Staccato dot in A

No mark in remaining sources
..

In the main text we include the staccato dot written in A and omitted – almost certainly due to an oversight of the copyist and the engraver of FE – in all the remaining sources. See also b. 17.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Errors in FE , Errors of FC