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Dotted rhythm in As, probable contextual interpretation |
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Dotted rhythm in As, possible interpretation |
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In As, only the upper R.H. voice is sketched, while the notation of the quaver in bar 31 is inaccurate and unclear – a spot of ink, which can be considered the note head, is located slightly below the middle of the stem of this quaver, which corresponds to the note a
1, possibly a1 (assuming omission of 
). The stem itself ends at the height of d1 (d1). The note head could also be a smaller dot under the staff, it could be interpreted as d1 or perhaps b. Without access to the original, however, it is difficult to say whether and which of these spots is significant at all, as they may be small ink chips or even spots unrelated to the writing process. The pitch of the intended note would then be determined by the very end of the stem. Assuming that the lower voice written in bar 23 is repeated in this bar, we consider the two versions given as variants to be reasonable readings. The interpretation of the lower dot as the note b could mean that Chopin marked the final version of the lower voice here (c1-b-g), which leads to versions obtained by combining the variants given here with the corresponding variant of the note pertaining to the lower voice of the R.H. (this possibility seems the least likely, taking into account the degree of inaccuracy of the record – the lack of a stick, a natural, and, above all, a ledger line).
Compare the passage in the sources »
category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations
issues: Main-line changes
notation: Pitch