Sensational discovery at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York. An unknown manuscript by Chopin was accidentally found among some relics in a vault. The discovery was made by music curator Robinson McClellan. While rummaging through some articles, McClellan noticed a tattered manuscript with a peculiar name at the top, Chopin.
He immediately took a photo and sent it to Jeffrey Kallberg, a scholar of the Polish composer at the University of Pennsylvania. “I was shocked – Kallberg told the American media – I knew I had never seen it before.” After careful analysis, the Morgan Library concluded that it was an unknown waltz by Chopin, a unique discovery in more than half a century. The manuscript is dated between 1830 and 1835, when the composer was 20 years old.
Researchers have highlighted several features. Although considered a complete work, the waltz is shorter than Chopin’s others, only 48 lines and a repeat totaling 80 seconds. The work is in A minor and also includes a treble forte. Described as “the poet of the piano”, Chopin died in Paris in 1849 at the age of 39.