mUltimate Chopin

Op. 30 No. 1, Mazurka in C minor

Text Compare Notes Sources Description

Issues : Long accents

b. 1

composition: Op. 30 No. 1, Mazurka in C minor

Long accent in FC, contextual interpretation

Short accent in FE (→EE) & GE
..

It is uncertain whether the FC accent is to be interpreted as short or long. The latter, which we adopted, is supported by the length of the accented note, the kujawiak-like nature of the Mazurka and a similar (although slightly longer) accent in the Scherzo in B minor, Op. 31, bar 18, in which Chopin's preserved autograph contains a clear long accent. We reproduce the GE mark as a short accent, since marks of similar length are most common in GE (in entire opus 30), and nothing indicates that they were treated as something unusual.

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Long accents

b. 8-16

composition: Op. 30 No. 1, Mazurka in C minor

No marks in FE (→EE)

Long accents in FC

Short accents in GE
..

The accent in bar 8 entered into FC is undoubtedly a long accent. Therefore, it allows us to consider the less unambiguous accent placed in a similar context in bar 16 to be long too. Both marks were almost certainly added by Chopin. In GE all accents in this Mazurka are more or less of the same length, and we reproduce them as short. 

category imprint: Graphic ambiguousness; Differences between sources

issues: Long accents , Authentic corrections of FC

b. 16

composition: Op. 30 No. 1, Mazurka in C minor

Short accent on 2nd beat in FE (→EE)

Short accent on 3rd beat in FC (→GE)

Long accent suggested by the editors
..

A comparison with bar 24, in which all sources have an accent on the 3rd beat of the bar, allows us to consider the accent of FE (→EE) to be erroneous in the discussed bar. In the main text we give this mark the form of a long accent due to the clear long accent in FE present in a similar situation in bar 24, most probably repeated after [A].

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Long accents , Errors in FE

b. 17-19

composition: Op. 30 No. 1, Mazurka in C minor

No marks in FE (→EE)

Long accents in FC

Short accents in GE
..

Chopin added the long accents in bars 17 and 19 in FC. In GE they were reproduced as medium marks, which we interpret as short – see bar 1.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Long accents , Authentic corrections of FC

b. 24

composition: Op. 30 No. 1, Mazurka in C minor

Long accent in FE

Short accent in FC (→GE) & EE
..

According to us, the long accent visible in FE corresponds to the notation of [A], hence we give it in the main text. We believe that the short accents of both FC (→GE) and EE resulted from an inaccurate reproduction of their respective bases.

category imprint: Differences between sources

issues: Long accents , Inaccuracies in FC