NEW YORK (AP) — The somber waltz was carefully composed on a music sheet about the size of an index card. The short, moody song also had an intriguing name, written in italics at the top: “Chopin.”
A previously unknown musical work written by European master Frederic Chopin appears to have been found in the Morgan Library & Museum in Manhattan.
The untitled and unsigned piece can be seen this month in the lavishly furnished institution, once the private library of financier JP Morgan.
Robinson McClellan, the museum curator who discovered the manuscript, says it is the first new work linked to the Romantic-era composer in nearly a century.
But McClellan admits that it may never be known whether it is an original work by Chopin or merely one he wrote in his hand.
The piece, set in the key of A minor, is notable for its “very stormy, somber opening section” before transitioning into a melancholic melody more characteristic of Chopin, McClellan explained.
“This is his style. This is his essence,” he said during a recent visit to the museum. “It really feels like him.”
McClellan said he came across the work in May while browsing a collection of the the late Arthur Satza former president of the New York School of Interior Design. Satz had taken over from A. Sherrill Whiton Jr.an avid autograph collector who had been principal of the school.
McClellan then worked with experts to verify its authenticity.
The paper appeared to be consistent with what Chopin preferred for manuscripts, and the ink matched a type typical of the early 19th century, when Chopin lived, the museum said. But a handwriting analysis revealed that the name “Chopin” at the top of the sheet had been written by someone else.
Born in Poland, Chopin was considered a musical genius from an early age. He lived in Warsaw and Vienna before settling in Paris, where he died in 1849 at the age of 39, probably of tuberculosis.
He is buried among a pantheon of artists in the famous Père Lachaise cemetery, but his heart, encrusted in a jar of alcohol, is housed in a church in Warsaw, in Warsaw. in accordance with his deathbed wish that the organ returns to its homeland.
Artur Szklener, director of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute in Warsaw, the Polish capital where the composer grew up, agreed that the document is consistent with the types of ink and paper Chopin used during his early years in Paris.
Musically, the piece is reminiscent of the “brilliant style” that made Chopin a standout in his time, but it also contains features that are unusual for his compositions, Szklener said.
“First of all, it is not a complete work, but rather a certain musical gesture, a theme interspersed with quite simple piano tricks that point to a virtuoso style,” Szklener explained in a long statement released after the document was revealed last month.
He and other experts suspect the piece could be a work in progress. It could also have been a copy of someone else’s work, or even co-written with someone else, for example a student for a musical exercise.
Jeffrey Kallberg, a music professor at the University of Pennsylvania and Chopin expert who helped authenticate the document, called the piece a “little gem” that Chopin likely intended as a gift for a friend or wealthy acquaintance.
“Many of the pieces he gave as gifts were short – a kind of ‘appetizer’ to a full-fledged work,” Kallberg said in an email. “And we’re not sure if the piece was intended to see the light of day, because he often gave the same waltz as a gift more than once.”
David Ludwig, dean of music at The Juilliard School, a performing arts conservatory in Manhattan, agreed that the piece has many hallmarks of the composer’s style.
“It has the Chopin character of something very lyrical and it also has a bit of darkness,” said Ludwig, who was not involved in the document’s authentication.
But Ludwig noted that, if authentic, the tightly composed score would be one of Chopin’s shortest known pieces. The waltz lasts less than a minute when played on piano, as many of Chopin’s works were intended.
“In terms of its authenticity, in a way it doesn’t matter because it captures our imagination,” Ludwig said. “A discovery like this underlines the fact that classical music is very much a living art form.”
Chopin’s revelation comes after the Municipal libraries of Leipzig in Germany announced in September that it had discovered a previously unknown piece in its collections, probably composed by the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Associated Press video journalist John Minchillo in New York contributed to this story.
Succeed Philip Marcelo twitter.com/philmarcelo.