A Newly Found Chopin Waltz!
Attention all classical music enthusiasts: a previously unknown waltz by Frédéric Chopin has just been discovered at New York's Morgan Library & Museum! This discovery, announced on October 27, 2024, marks the first time in over fifty years that a new work by Chopin has been found. The manuscript, a brief yet engaging piece in A minor, offers a glimpse into Chopin's early composition style.
The manuscript was found by curator Robinson McClellan while cataloging a 2019 bequest. The approximately 10 by 13 centimeter sheet contains 24 bars of music with repeats, amounting to a performance of about 80 seconds. The paper and ink have been analyzed and are consistent with materials used in the early 1830s. This makes it a product of the period when Chopin was in his early twenties and had recently settled in Paris. The handwriting is small and the bass clef notation is unusual, closely matching known examples of Chopin's script. The absence of his signature and many uncorrected mistakes have cast some doubt on whether the piece was meant to be published or remained a sketch.
In A minor and in 3/4, the waltz begins with an abrupt start that launches into a melancholy melody representative of emotional depth from the composer. The accompaniment features shifting seconds, another characteristic of Chopin's style. This short work contains much of the character of Chopin's early waltzes, in which lyric melodies are intertwined with complex harmonies. Pianist Lang Lang has recorded the work for The New York Times and described the opening of the waltz as one "of winter in the Polish countryside”.
Pianist: Lang Lang
This discovery has generated much interest in the classical music world. On November 8, 2024, Deutsche Grammophon released the commercial recording of the waltz, with Lang Lang performing. Warner Classics also released a recording on November 5, 2024, featuring pianist Piotr Anderszewski. These recordings have given audiences worldwide the opportunity to experience this newfound piece.
While various analyses have supported the manuscript's authenticity, some scholars remain circumspect. Artur Szklener, Director of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, commented that the neatness of the manuscript argues against it being co-written with a student in the process of a lesson. Instead, he believes the manuscript to be more properly a "sketch of the first musical thought" rather than a finished product, and is unwilling to regard it as Chopin's twentieth waltz. The decoration of the melody and the shifting seconds in the accompaniment are, however, unmistakably characteristic of Chopin.
This waltz, apart from being such a rare addition to the works of Chopin, opens a window to his creation process during a very early period of his career. The waltz, depending on how one might look at it (whether as a completed work or a preliminary sketch) is an addition to knowledge about Chopin's musical language and is fascinating to this day, almost two centuries after its creation.
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