You Can Listen to a Lost Chopin Waltz That Hasn’t Been Heard for Nearly Two Centuries

A curator in New York City has identified a lost waltz by Frédéric Chopin, marking the first discovery of music by the renowned 19th-century composer since the 1930s.

Robinson McClellan, a curator at the Morgan Library & Museum, noticed the manuscript while cataloging items from a newly donated collection in 2019. The waltz was on a small piece of paper—about the size of an index card—with the name “Chopin” written at the top. However, when McClellan couldn’t match it to any of Chopin’s works, he grew increasingly perplexed.

“I thought, ‘What’s going on here? What could this be?’” he tells the New York Times’ Javier C. Hernández. “I didn’t recognize the music.”

Chopin is thought to have written dozens of waltzes, but only about 17 have been published. The rest were lost to history.

McClellan sent a picture of the manuscript to Jeffrey Kallberg, a Chopin scholar at the University of Pennsylvania. Kallberg was floored when he received the image.

“My jaw dropped,” he tells the Times. “I knew I had never seen this before.”

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McClellan and Kallberg started working to authenticate the piece, enlisting the help of Chopin experts and paper conservators, according to a statement from the museum. Along the way, they encountered a few hurdles.

While the document features Chopin’s name, the musician had not actually signed it himself. A handwriting analysis revealed that the name was written by someone else. What’s more, the piece is only about a minute long. Chopin is known for his brevity, but the newly discovered waltz is shorter than his others. Its structure is also quite striking.

“Several moody, dissonant measures culminate in a loud outburst, before a melancholy melody begins,” per the museum. “None of his known waltzes start this way, making this one even more intriguing.”

Still, none of these qualities disqualify the composition from being a Chopin. It dates to around the 1830s, when the composer was in his 20s, and experts say he may have been experimenting more during these early years.

The music “offers a look into Chopin’s creative process,” a museum spokesperson tells CNN’s Jack Guy. “We can see Chopin trying things that would become hallmarks of his style.”

Born in Poland in 1810, Chopin was a child prodigy who began composing at a young age and went on to study at the Warsaw Conservatory. He died when he was only 39, but even though his career was cut short, he is considered one of history’s greatest composers for the piano.

During the authentication process, paper conservators confirmed that the paper and ink were consistent with what Chopin would have used at the time. The penmanship also matches other manuscripts by the composer. Based on this research, the museum concludes there is a “strong likelihood” that Chopin wrote the piece.

“I feel about 98 percent sure,” McClellan tells BBC News’ George Wright. “Many people who have heard it already feel in their gut this sounds like Chopin.”

Although the waltz is short, experts don’t think it’s unfinished. Chopin sometimes gifted small pieces like this one to friends. However, he usually signed these works, “suggesting that he changed his mind and withheld” the newly discovered composition, per the museum.

Thanks to McClellan’s discovery, the music, which was hidden for nearly 200 years, is finally seeing the light of day.

“This newly discovered waltz expands our understanding of Chopin as a composer and opens new questions for scholars to consider regarding when he wrote it and for whom it was intended,” says McClellan in the statement. “To hear this work for the first time will be an exciting moment for everyone in the world of classical piano.”

Julia Binswanger | READ MORE

Julia Binswanger is a freelance arts and culture reporter based in Chicago. Her work has been featured in WBEZ, Chicago magazine, Rebellious magazine and PC magazine.