Op. 2, Variations, complete

 b. 319

	d2 & d1 in sources
	d2 & d1, possible alternative interpretation

One can ponder whether Chopin did not forget to put a  restoring d²⁽¹⁾ to the middle note of the penultimate triplet (in both bars). A possible oversight is supported by the use of b⁽¹⁾ in the previous semiquaver:

• the unnatural orthography of the C major chord suggests that it was already c¹⁽²⁾ that Chopin considered to be a chord tone here, which signals the return to the principal key, that is B major;
• on a number of occasions, it was clear to Chopin that raising the bottom note of a third implied a parallel movement of the top note – typical examples are the beginnings of the Introduction (bar 2), variation V (bar 255) or bar 292. In the discussed situation b⁽¹⁾ would therefore point to d¹⁽²⁾, and not d¹⁽²⁾;
• overlooked cancellation of alterations generally belongs to Chopin's most frequent mistakes, as, e.g. in the aforementioned bars 291-292.

Nevertheless, the first of the above arguments, harmonic, could be easily challenged – the chords on the 5th and 6th quavers, e¹-g¹-c² and f-c¹-e¹-a¹, do not determine the mode on their own, B major or B minor. On the other hand, the remaining two arguments only prove that Chopin's possible mistake is likely, which does not prove that the composer actually committed it. Taking into account the fact that the literal interpretation – d²⁽¹⁾ – results in a version that does not go beyond the Chopinesque style, in the main text we leave the source version. 

category imprint: Editorial revisions; Source & stylistic information

issues: Omissions to cancel alteration, Errors of A

notation: Pitch