mUltimate Chopin

Op. 2, Variations, complete

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Errors repeated in EE

b. 15

composition: Op. 2, Variations, complete

..

The  restoring b1 in the 2nd half of the bar is absent in all sources. It must be Chopin's mistake, one of his most frequent errors.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Editorial revisions

issues: Omissions to cancel alteration , Errors of A , Errors repeated in GE , Errors repeated in FE , Errors repeated in EE

b. 30

composition: Op. 2, Variations, complete

..

In A a few necessary or cautionary accidentals are missing – in the L.H. a  lowering g1 to g1, in the R.H. flats lowering g2 to g2 and c2 to c2 and a  to f2. In GE (→FE,EE) it was only the missing accidental in the L.H. that was added.
In the main text we add the above accidentals as well as a cautionary  to d3.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Differences between sources; Editorial revisions

issues: Accidentals in different octaves , GE revisions , Inaccuracies in A , Errors repeated in GE , Errors repeated in FE , Errors repeated in EE

b. 45

composition: Op. 2, Variations, complete

..

In A and all editions, the e1 note on the 3rd crotchet in the bar is wrongly a double dotted crotchet. In AsI the note has the correct rhythmic value.

category imprint: Interpretations within context; Editorial revisions

issues: Rhythmic errors , Errors of A , Errors repeated in GE , Errors repeated in FE , Errors repeated in EE

b. 47-48

composition: Op. 2, Variations, complete

Slur in A

No slur in GE (→FE,EE,FESB)
..

In all editions, bar 47 is the final one in the line; moreover, the slur that reaches b. 48 was overlooked in it – it is only the ending of that slur that was printed in b. 48 (in FE this fragment was overlooked too). The diligence with which three different editions – EE, FESB and GE3 – reproduced this clearly erroneous notation is truly puzzling. In our transcriptions, due to a different layout, we treat the versions of all editions as not including a slur.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources; Source & stylistic information

issues: Errors in GE , Uncertain slur continuation , Errors repeated in GE , Errors repeated in FE , Errors repeated in EE

b. 56

composition: Op. 2, Variations, complete

6 notes on 5th quaver-beat in AsI

5 notes in A (→GE→FE,EE), interpretation
..

In A and in all editions, over the 5-note 1st half of the figure on the 3rd beat of the bar, we can observe a seemingly wrong digit – 6. However, the error consists in a missing note – a2 between b2 and g2 – which is proven by:

  • the text of AsI, which includes this note. The figure begins with a written-out turn, like the three remaining similar phrases in b. 55-57;
  • discrepancy between the number of the notes and the actual number, which means that Chopin did not realise that he was entering a text containing a smaller number of notes. Therefore, it is not a change of concept but an oversight.

The mistake remained unnoticed, both by Chopin (who was probably proofreading GE1 and certainly FE1) and by the revisers, who did not check the rhythmic correctness of this figure.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Rhythmic errors , Errors of A , Errors repeated in GE , Errors repeated in FE , Errors repeated in EE