5

In Chopin Prelude Op. 28 No. 1 (C major) has a particularly mysterious mutated note in the 12th bar shown in the red box (this note does not repeat the voice of the previous blue box):

Question

Is there a good reason why Chopin chooses to only mutate this note in the red box, not in the other bars?

Chopin op. 28 no. 1, with m. 12 highlighted

If you look carefully, every bar has a right-hand melody with 5 notes. In each bar, you can see the fourth note always repeats the second note in the same bar; the only exception is what I highlighted in the red box and the blue box.

Improve this question

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
6

It's an error in the score. The D should be an E. For example, see the Mikuli edition (IMSLP)

Chopin op. 28, no. 1 m. 12

Improve this answer
2
  • My ear cannot logically tell me whether youtu.be/UtyL4hJrypQ?t=15 (at 15 sec) does Vladimir Ashkenazy play E or play D in the fourth note in the right-hand melody? Vladimir Ashkenazy seems to play a sound like D to me.
    – wonderich
    Feb 13, 2022 at 19:44
  • 1
    @wonderich If you slow down the video to half speed, you can hear the E with reasonable clarity (mostly because the D would stand out noticeably if that's what he played).
    – Aaron
    Feb 13, 2022 at 20:45

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.