An unknown waltz by the Polish composer Fryderyk Chopin has most likely been found in one of the museums in New York, the New York Times reported. Prominent pianist Lang Lang played the newly found Chopin’s piece. 

According to the “NYT,” the find was made by the curator of the Morgan Library & Museum in Manhattan, Robinson McClellan, when sifting through memorabilia of famous artists, such as postcards signed by Pablo Picasso or letters from Johannes Brahms and Pyotr Tchaikovsky.

When McClellan came across item number 147, he froze. “It was a pockmarked musical scrap the size of an index card… with tiny notation and a conspicuous name,” the article said. The annotation read “Valse”, “and a name was written in cursive across the top: Chopin,”

The curator, who is himself a composer, played the piece at home, but had doubts as it was “unusually volcanic”. So he sent a photo of the score to the University of Pennsylvania’s leading expert on Chopin’s music, Jeffrey Kallberg.

“My jaw dropped,’ said Kallberg. – I knew I had never seen it before.”

“After testing the manuscript’s paper and ink, analysing its handwriting and musical style, and consulting outside experts, the Morgan has come to a momentous conclusion: The work is likely an unknown waltz by Frédéric Chopin, the great fantasist of the Romantic era, the first such discovery in more than half a century,” the “NYT” reports.

Coming across unknown works by Chopin is rare, as he was less prolific than other composers, the NYT pointed out. Although the found piece, in the key of A minor, is a complete work, it is shorter than Chopin’s other waltzes lasting only about 80 seconds.

“We are absolutely confident in our conclusions,” said McClellan. “Now is the time to show it to the world, so that they can form their own opinions.”

Prominent pianist Lang Lang, whose performance of the waltz can be heard on the NYT website, said it sounds to him like a Chopin piece. 

“It’s not the most complex of Chopin’s music, but in terms of style, it seems as authentic as you can imagine,” Lang Lang said.

Source: PAP, NYT

Tomasz Modrzejewski

Photo: X @MorganLibrary