Score Reading: Misprints

In Franck’s magnificent E major Chorale, there is an obvious blotch in certain editions which appears right next to the tenor voice of a 4-part texture (see dark blue square, upper left example). Whatever the genesis of the blotch, it has led to what I believe are incorrect performances of the passage.

The blotch clearly includes a large, somewhat circular shape, attached to what appears to be the note B in the space above the bass staff. If the B is indeed the composer’s intention, then it must be observed that 1) the lower right corner of the note head is missing, 2) a fifth, non-doubling voice has suddenly been added to the texture, and 3) the added note results in a dissonant 9 - 8 combination with the accented passing tone C sharp in the soprano, thus significantly changing the sonority of the chord.

If we look at the analogous passage later in the piece, with pedals added, we see that the B is not present. Its absence, however, has nothing to do with the added pedal line: the pedal line is simply an octave doubling of the lowest voice in the manuals.

The only sensible conclusion is that the B is part of the smudge. The middle and lower examples on the left show the large part of the blotch, and then the entire blotch, removed. Why does this problem go undetected? The answer is straightforward. The B is indeed possible - after all, it is the root of the prevailing harmony, the B dominant 7th chord. But why would Franck vary the harmony, by omitting the B, in only one instance throughout the course of the later passage, while what is happening in the music in the first place - in the later passage - is a registrational and textural variant of the initial statement?

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Score Reading: Misprints

A passage from the fugue of Franck’s Prelude, Fugue and Variation in B minor, op. 18 is quoted above. I believe it contains a rather serious misprint in the highlighted measure.

Misprints in musical scores can occur for a number of reasons: a slip of the copyist’s pen from autograph to 1st edition or to any subsequent edition, a copyist’s misinterpretation of the composer’s notation, misreading a clef, an editor’s decision, or in rare cases, a mistake on the part of the composer.

When the composer’s autograph is not available, how are we to know which edition to use? Can we trust so-called ‘urtext’ editions implicitly? Fortunately, two or more editions are available for most repertoire, although many performances are indeed based on a single source. It is also fortunate that misprints are extremely rare. What is unfortunate is that they can easily go undetected.

The alleged misprint in the Franck excerpt occurs in the soprano voice - the eighth note D should be a major 6th higher - B on the 3rd line. The evidence supporting this assertion is quite clear. In the measure in question, the soprano voice appears to re-enter, after a brief rest, with two additional connected statements of the characteristic 8th-note motive which is part of the fugue subject. [Actually, the previously existing soprano voice either becomes the alto, or it splits into two voices on the downbeat of the measure - notice the change in stem direction from the 1st to the 2nd measure of the system]. If the D is correct as it appears, this would be the only statement of the motive in the entire fugue which does not conform melodically to all its other appearances. There is more. The voice leading as it stands involves a pair of parallel unisons, again the only such occurrence - in this case of faulty counterpoint - in the fugue. Finally, the augmented 4th, D to G sharp, sounds disturbing, yet the piece is full of augmented and diminished intervals, both melodically and harmonically, which sound perfectly natural.

There are many instances in various editions of Franck’s organ music in which I believe there are misprints of this sort. As responsible musicians, we need to be on the lookout for this potential problem in our daily musical studies. This is especially true in the more complex chromatic styles and those of the 20th century, but we can never be too careful, whatever the style or composer.