In these bars, it is difficult to determine which accents Chopin had in mind. The length of the marks differs – the second is a typical long accent, the third – short, while the first can be interpreted twofold: it is true that it is quite short; however, it is slender like a long accent. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that Chopin would have wanted to differentiate between the marks: like entire A, they were written in haste, which excludes the application of hardly noticeable graphical details. In the main text, we are leaning towards long accents due to the layout – bar 25 opens a new line; therefore, it is likely that the accent was added later, with less commitment, and it is the marks in b. 24 that represent the correct reflex. According to us, the short accents in the editions may be regarded as a less likely interpretation of the notation of A.
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category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources; Editorial revisions
issues: Long accents, Inaccuracies in FE, Inaccuracies in A
notation: Articulation, Accents, Hairpins