NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� 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: 鈥淐hopin.鈥�
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.
The 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 鈥渧ery stormy, brooding opening section鈥� before transitioning to a melancholy melody more characteristic of Chopin, McClellan explained.
鈥淭his is his style. This is his essence,鈥� he said during a recent visit to the museum. 鈥淚t really feels like him.鈥�
McClellan said he came across the work in May as he was going through a collection from the , a former president of the New York School of Interior Design. Satz had acquired it from 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 鈥淐hopin鈥� 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 the age of 39, likely of tuberculosis.
He鈥檚 buried among a pantheon of artists at the city鈥檚 famed P猫re Lachaise Cemetery, but his heart, pickled in a jar of alcohol, is housed in a church in Warsaw, in for the organ to return to his homeland.
Artur Szklener, director of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute in Warsaw, the Polish capital city where the composer grew up, agreed that the document is consistent with the kinds of ink and paper Chopin used during his early years in Paris.
Musically, the piece evokes the 鈥渂rilliant style鈥� that made Chopin a luminary in his time, but it also has features unusual for his compositions, Szklener said.
鈥淔irst of all, it is not a complete work, but rather a certain musical gesture, a theme laced with rather simple piano tricks alluding to a virtuoso style," Szklener explained in released after the document was revealed last month.
He and other experts conjecture the piece could have been a work in progress. It may have also been a copy of another's work, or even co-written with someone else, perhaps a student for a musical exercise.
Jeffrey Kallberg, a University of Pennsylvania music professor and Chopin expert who helped authenticate the document, called the piece a 鈥渓ittle gem鈥� that Chopin likely intended as a gift for a friend or wealthy acquaintance.
鈥淢any of the pieces that he gave as gifts were short 鈥� kind of like 鈥榓ppetizers鈥� to a full-blown work,鈥� Kallberg said in an email. 鈥淎nd we don鈥檛 know for sure whether he intended the piece to see the light of day because he often wrote out the same waltz more than once as a gift.鈥�
David Ludwig, dean of music at The Juilliard School, a performing arts conservatory in Manhattan, agreed the piece has many of the hallmarks of the composer鈥檚 style.
鈥淚t has the Chopin character of something very lyrical and it has a little bit of darkness as well,鈥� said Ludwig, who was not involved in authenticating the document.
But Ludwig noted that, if it's authentic, the tightly composed score would be one of Chopin鈥檚 shortest known pieces. The waltz clocks in at under a minute long when played on piano, as many of Chopin鈥檚 works were intended.
鈥淚n terms of the authenticity of it, in a way it doesn鈥檛 matter because it sparks our imaginations,鈥� Ludwig said. 鈥淎 discovery like this highlights the fact that classical music is very much a living art form.鈥�
The Chopin reveal comes after the in September that it had uncovered a previously unknown piece likely composed by a young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in its collections.
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Associated Press video journalist John Minchillo in New York contributed to this story.
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Philip Marcelo, The Associated Press
