New Waltz by Chopin discovered in New York

The score is barely bigger than a piece of cardboard (10 × 13 cm), but it is far from small. While cataloging manuscripts, Robinson McClellan, curator of musical manuscripts at the Morgan Library & Museum, came across this page that appeared to be written in Chopin’s own hand but the music was not his corresponds to any work done by the writer on the list. Some research showed that it was indeed an unknown work.

A gift?

After analyzing the manuscript’s ink and paper – which correspond to those used by the author -, examining the handwriting and style, and communicating to several outside experts, the New York institute came to the conclusion that it was probably a waltz by Frédéric. Chopin. The manuscript is from the first half of the 1830s. the small, the work has 24 measures, with a double bar indicating repetition; it opens with a crescendo leading to a triple strengthen, which may be surprising. Although not all experts may recognize the discovery as genuine, Robinson McClellan says that ” full confidence in the decisions » research. It could be a score to be offered to an appraiser; in fact, Chopin sometimes offered manuscripts – so he gave five copies of it Waltz in F minor a for women. However, without a signature on the newly discovered waltz, that raises the question: would the poet have changed his mind and finally refused to give it up?

The short piece was performed and recorded by Just exactly for the New York Times. « This is not Chopin’s most complicated music “, said the pianist, “ but it is one of the most authentic Chopin styles imaginable. » We note, however, that there are unusual elements: ” Among the Chopin waltzes we know, none begin in this way », reports the Morgan Library & Museum. And of course, this particularly wonderful introduction may seem disproportionate to the scale of the piece, which is much shorter than the other Chopin waltzes known to date. For one of the best contemporary experts of the writer, the American John Rincthere is reason to doubt: “ Is it really by Chopin? »he asks, acknowledging that technical analysis of ink and paper is hard to deny. Could it be otherwise that the piece is incomplete and is the first idea for a larger work? After the double bar, we see a theon the left, equal to the construction of the first dimension…