NOTATIO

The slurs in example 1 mean to make breaks between the dotted eighths and sixteenths. If that is all you want, then the first example is simpler and therefore better. However, if you want the value of exactly one eighth note, followed by a rest of exactly one sixteenth note, you will need to write i...

As mentioned in a previous post, I think that such editions are very helpful for reference purposes, since it is always good to know the opinion of excellent musicians. And since so many original sources are available online and good urtext and critical editions are so prevalent, and no one is now a...

Chopin seems to be doing something unusual with several of the slurs in the Etude op. 25 no. 4. Examples 1 and 2 are from the composer's autograph. What can be the logic behind: Chopin Etude op 25 no 4 slurs 1.jpg Chopin Etude op 25 no 4 slurs 2.jpg The slur at * in example 1 overshoots the last not...

Thanks so much worldwideweary! I really appreciate that. Some of this material will appear in my edition of the etudes. I usually use Maestro or MaestroTimes musical characters of the proper size and position in publications, but as you say, it is pretty convenient to use the ready-made ones here, e...

Your descriptions seem very helpful to me as well, David.

The most well-known example of esoteric accidentals in Chopin’s music occurs at the end of the first section of the Etude op. 25 no. 10. This piece is in a A-B-A form with a serene middle section in B major surrounded by stormy octave sections in B minor. Chopin Etude op 25 no 10 Notatio example 1A....

The Ratz might be considered superior in that some misprints were corrected, and the measure numbers are out of the way of the text. However, I use the original because there has been criticism of some of Ratz's changes. It has been a long time since I compared the two, however. Actually, having Rat...

In the next examples, Chopin seems to be trying to distinguish different levels of structure by means of his spelling. The end of the Etudes op. 10 no. 1 and op. 10 no. 7, both in the key of C major, use G :s diminished seventh chords instead of B diminished seventh chords, which, of course, would o...

Along with all that, I have never seen instrument and vocal labels aligned on the left side so the longer ones force the shorter ones very far from the left barlines. Common sense seems to be in short supply these days.

To answer Ere's great question: I think that it may be because Chopin thought of the the second half of m. 45 along with the whole of m. 48 as providing the basic framework (shown at * in the accompanying example) within which the intervening diminished seventh passing chords work, and therefore tha...