FE1
Main text
AsI - Working autograph of score
A - Autograph fair copy
GE - German edition
GE1 - First German edition
GE2 - Corrected impression of GE1
GE3 - Second German edition
FE - French edition
FE1 - First French edition
FE2 - Corrected impression of FE1
FESB - Later French edition
EE - English edition
EE1 - First English edition
EE2 - Corrected impression of EE1
EE3 - Revised impression of EE2
compare
  b. 287

In all sources, the dashes marking the range of the indication from bars 282-283 run continuously to the end of the tutti in bar 290. Except FE1 (→FE2), in which there is a simple octave sign, indicating that the given fragment is to be performed an octave higher, the notation seems to be simplified, since the chordal texture on the 3rd beat of bar 287 makes a performance with added octaves (con 8va) impossible. In the content transcriptions (the versions "edited text") and in the main text we specify this notation accordingly by inserting 8 on the 3rd beat of bar 287.

One can also ponder whether Chopin wanted "con o in", which seems to have been added before a simple octave sign (8va¯ ¯ ¯) in A, to be understood as "in octaves" initially and "an octave higher" from the 3rd beat of bar 287. In other words, it would be a joint instruction on how to perform the entire tutti, and not a description of two possible performances of the first phrase. Chopin would then expect a common-sense approach from the performer, who would have to guess that first, as long as possible, it is con 8va that is valid, and then, from the 3rd beat of bar 287 – in 8va. However, such understanding is contested by the way the indication was used in the Fantasy on Polish Airs, Op. 13, bars 130-148, in a context that rules out such an interpretation – the entire theme, encompassed with the indication, is written there in single notes, hence there are no grounds to assign con 8va to one fragment and in 8va to another.

Compare the passage in the sources »

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Source & stylistic information

issues: Inaccuracies in GE, Inaccuracies in FE, EE inaccuracies, Inaccuracies in A

notation: Pitch

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