J.C.F. Bach Menuet in C Major

[1piano4joe]

Hi all,

Just curious about the right hand in measures 3 and 5.

 

 
compared with screenshot below




The first one starts with a c in the 3rd measure and the 2nd one starts with a g?

And the 5th measure is quite different in these scores.

Which one is "correct" or are they an earlier version and a later revision by this composer? Can notes ever be editorial?

Which one would you suggest I study?

Thank you, Joe.

[j_tour]

That's a good one.  I'm not familiar with this piece, but I'd give a slight edge to the 3rd bar beginning with the C.

I don't really have a good reason, though:  it just sounds slightly better to my mind's ear. 

Could have been a printer's error, a different manuscript various editors used...hard to say without doing more research.

But, sure, absolutely an edition can (and often does) include variant notes, depending on the manuscripts consulted and the scholarly certainty an editor has about a given passage.  If you're lucky they'll include a note somewhere, like "MS. B 1781 blah blah blah," but perhaps not, as in this case.

[1piano4joe]

Hi j_tour,

I have decided to use the YouTube version with the "C" in the 3rd measure.

The ornamentation is also different in these two scores. The screenshot has a mordent in the 6th measure and a turn in the 7th while the "SheetMusicPlus" version has a trill in the 7th measure.

In addition, I have seen the trill executed 2 different ways. One with a 4 note trill beginning on the upper note and another score with a 6 note trill which includes a lower note as well which I believe has some fancy name.

Thanks for the reply, Joe.

[anacrusis]

I think you'll be fine if you go with the score with the video. I take issue with the trill being written out that way in the screenshot  even if technically playing the trill that way is fine.