Morgan Library Discovers Chopin’s New Waltz – History

A previously unknown waltz by Frederic Chopin has been discovered at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City (pdf). This is the first new work discovered by the great Romantic composer since the 1930s. At just a minute long, it is the shortest waltz he ever wrote.

Dr. Robinson McClellan, associate curator of music manuscripts and printed music, discovered a small handwritten manuscript by the Polish-born virtuoso in the library’s collection in 2019. He is cataloging the Arthur Satz collection of art and cultural memorabilia, which has just been published. He joined Morgan’s extensive collection when he came across a small page, about 4 by 5 inches (just a little larger than an index card). This piece has no title other than “Waltz” in the upper left corner and the name “Chopin” written in the upper middle.

Morgan’s manuscript consisted of twenty-four annotated measures, which the composer asked the pianist to repeat in their entirety. Chopin was known for writing in “small forms,” ​​but this piece lasts about a minute, shorter than any other waltz he composed. Still, it’s a complete work, displaying the kind of “tightness” we’ve come to expect from a composer’s finished work. The beginning of the work is most striking: several moody, dissonant bars culminate in a loud outburst before a melancholy melody begins. None of his known waltzes begin in this way, which makes this one all the more interesting.

McClellan took a photo of the manuscript and sent it to leading Chopin scholar Jeffrey Carlberg, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Together they investigated the manuscript and studied the music to verify its authenticity. McClellan also brought in more Chopin experts and Morgan’s paper conservators to study the paper and compare it to the paper Chopin used in his authenticated manuscripts.

Investigation confirmed that the machine-made paper and iron gall ink date back to the 19th century, and the musical style is consistent with Chopin’s works from the early 1830s. The handwriting also matches that of Chopin, including the unique writing of the bass clef symbol and the words “Waltz” in the upper left corner.

Chopin died young. He died in 1849 at the age of 39, probably of tuberculosis. It is known that he composed about 250 works. Only eight waltzes were published during his lifetime; nine more were published posthumously. The rest, perhaps as many as 10, have been lost. He had never written a symphony or any other full-length work, and he preferred performing his new music in salons rather than concert halls before small groups.

Fans would approach him at these events and, with unimaginable recklessness, demand that he give them an autographed musical manuscript. It is understood that he gave away at least five small manuscripts of the Waltz in F minor. Scholars believe the newly discovered Morgan Waltz may have been given as a salon gift. However, he signed these, while this one is unsigned (it says “Chopin” not in his hand), so it’s possible he wrote it but never gave it to anyone later.

The New York Times hired pianist Lang Lang to perform Chopin’s lost waltz for the first time in 200 years at Manhattan’s Steinway Hall, so without further ado, here’s the premiere of Frédéric Chopin’s Waltz in A Minor.

That was the sound of Chopin’s Waltz, which was unearthed nearly 200 years later. This is the story of how an unknown work in the hands of the composer was discovered in a New York museum for the first time in more than half a century. pic.twitter.com/yeGxE10EoX

— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 27, 2024