mUltimate Chopin

Op. 2, Variations, complete

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Wedges

b. 224

composition: Op. 2, Variations, complete

4 R.H. staccato dots in A, literal reading

R.H. wedges & dots in A, contextual interpretation

16 wedges in GE (→FE,EE,FESB)

8 wedges & dots suggested by the editors

16 wedges & dots, our alternative suggestion
..

As with bar 216, the interpretation of the staccato markings in A is problematic, since the difference between the particular markings, so clear in bars 208-211 (wedges and dots), concerns only the size of the markings in this case – the dots over the 1st and 3rd semiquavers are clearly bigger than those over the 2nd and 4th ones. We consider it a consequence of carelessness and interpret it after the initial bars in this variation. In the main text we suggest adding respective markings in the L.H. part as well.
We regard the use of wedges only in the editions as a consequence of the arbitrary decision of the engraver of GE1. The addition of markings (wedges) in the 2nd half of the bar also seems unnecessary; we suggest the version with wedges and dots with necessary changes only as an alternative solution.  

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: GE revisions , Wedges

b. 230

composition: Op. 2, Variations, complete

4 staccato dots in A

16 wedges in GE (→FE,EE)

8 R.H. wedges in FESB
..

As with bar 224, it seems highly unlikely that the replacement of the four dots (emphasising in A the final melodic idea in this phrase) with wedges (reminding that the variation should be performed staccato) was introduced by GE1 under the influence of Chopin. In this edition this bar opens the page, which could have prompted the engraver (reviser?) to reinterpret the Chopinesque markings in such a way (markings that could be considered incomplete, cf. the adjacent note). The absence of wedges in the L.H. part in FESB is most probably the engraver's mistake.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: GE revisions , Wedges ,

b. 268-269

composition: Op. 2, Variations, complete

2 staccato dots in A

Wedge in GE1 (→FE,GE2→FESB)

2 wedges in EE

3 wedges in GE3
..

In A the staccato marks over the bass G notes are clearly dots in this bar, and not wedges, as was the case before and as was conveyed by GE and the remaining editions. It was not an inaccuracy of notation, since in both places one can see traces of corrections (erasures). In the next bars, the bass notes are not marked staccato at all, which may suggest that the articulation should get gradually longer (milder?) as the modulation progresses and as the music calms down.
The absence of the second mark in GE1 (→FE,GE2→FESB) probably resulted from an oversight (or the engraver was uncertain which mark to apply). The additions in EE (the 2nd wedge in bar 268) and GE3 (the 2nd wedge in bar 268 and the wedge over the first F in bar 269) were arbitrary decisions of the revisers.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: EE revisions , Errors in FE , Inaccuracies in GE , GE revisions , Wedges

b. 271-272

composition: Op. 2, Variations, complete

2 wedges, 4 dots in A

5 wedges in GE (→FE,EE)
..

The precise Chopinesque articulation markings – wedges at the beginning of the bar and dots further on – were arbitrarily standardised in GE (→FE,EE). It was the entire finale of the Variations that was subject to this arbitrary unification of staccato markings. According to us, such a decision could have been influenced by both types of staccato intertwining in A, doubly burdensome for the engraver:

  • when deciphering the text, since the differences between the marks are not always obvious at first sight, not to mention discovering the key Chopin followed when choosing one or the other type of marks;
  • when engraving, due to the need to change the die often (or due to the need to develop a page twice, once for dots and subsequently for wedges).

The missing staccato mark over the crotchet in bar 271 is most probably the engraver's mistake.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Errors in GE , GE revisions , Wedges

b. 275-283

composition: Op. 2, Variations, complete

Dots & wedges in A

Wedges in GE (→FE,EE)
..

In the main text we keep the notation of A, in which Chopin precisely and consistently differentiated between the types of staccato markings in the L.H., saving wedges for the bass notes only. This subtlety was not preserved by GE (→FE,EE), in which all markings were reproduced as wedges. See also bar 276 and 279.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Inaccuracies in GE , Wedges