Waltz Possibly Written By Composer Frederic Chopin Discovered In NYC Museum

NEW YORK (AP) — The brooding waltz was carefully composed on a sheet of music roughly the size of an index card.The brief, moody number also bore an intriguing name, written at the top in cursive: “Chopin.”A previously unknown work of music penned by the European master Frederic Chopin appears to have been found at the Morgan Library & Museum in Manhattan.

Advertisement The untitled and unsigned piece is on display this month at the opulently appointed institution, which had once been the private library of financier J.P.

Morgan.Robinson McClellan, the museum curator who uncovered the manuscript, said it’s the first new work associated with the Romantic era composer to be discovered in nearly a century.But McClellan concedes that it may never be known whether it is an original Chopin work or merely one written in his hand.The piece, set in the key of A minor, stands out for its “very stormy, brooding opening section” before transitioning to a melancholy melody more characteristic of Chopin, McClellan explained.

Advertisement “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 as he was going through a collection from the late Arthur Satz, a former president of the New York School of Interior Design.Satz had acquired it from A.

Sherrill Whiton Jr., an avid autograph collector who had been director of the school.McClellan then worked with experts to verify its authenticity.The paper was found to be consistent with what Chopin favored for manuscripts, and the ink matched a kind typical in the early 19th century when Chopin lived, according to the museum.

But a handwriting analysis determined the name “Chopin” written at the top of the sheet was penned 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 ...