Op. 44, Polonaise in F♯ minor

 b. 125

	No sign in GE
	in FE, literal reading
	in FE, possible interpretation
	Long accent in FE, interpretation suggested by editors
	Accent in EE

The  mark in FE is questionable when we try to interpret it. When interpreted literally, it points to a slight – not even one-beat-long – continuation of the eight-bar diminuendo. According to us, an actual result of that prolongation would be so imperceptible that it is difficult to imagine that this is how Chopin would have wanted to mark it. The position of the mark (incompatible with Chopin's vision) could have been influenced by the proximity of :

• In the handwritten basis, the discussed mark could have concerned only just the group of demisemiquavers. In addition, if  had occupied more space in the manuscript than in print, the engraver could have assumed that the markings are related and placed  directly after  (cf., e.g. the notation of the ending of the Prelude in B minor, Op. 28 No. 6 – a possible  beginning in the autograph on the bar line of the last bar could have started in the penultimate bar in print). Such a position of a  does not mark a general diminuendo – along with the absence of a staccato dot on the a¹ quaver, it signalizes a change in the character of this (and next) five-note figure – attenuating the hitherto sharp articulation of the a¹ quavers, emphasizing the "military" rhythm. We include this possibility as an alternative suggestion.
• In turn, if  had been written earlier, on the bar line or before it (like, e.g. in the Prelude in B major, Op. 28 No. 21, b. 25), the mark could have been a long accent concerning the 1st quaver of the bar, and the fact that it was moved to the right resulted from the necessity for  to avoid the bar line. NB: even without two elements merging into one, Chopinesque long accents would often be similarly distorted in print, cf., e.g. the Etude in A minor, Op. 10 No. 2, b. 12. We suggest this possibility in the main text, since we consider it to be most likely.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Long accents, Inaccuracies in FE

notation: Articulation, Accents, Hairpins