Hear a Lost Chopin Waltz Found at The Morgan Library

More than 170 years after his death, a new piece of music by composer Frédéric Chopin was discovered in the archives of The Morgan Library and Museum. The surprising discovery, made by curator Dr. Robinson McClellan in October 2024, was the first such find since the 1930s. To mark Chopin's upcoming 215th birthday anniversary on March 1st, we enlisted pianist Benedict Wong of The Brownstone Quartet to perform the previously unknown piece!

After playing the newly discovered Chopin piece, Wong said it is "very unusual" and "shorter than any of [Chopin's] other waltzes." He describes the music as having an "unusually volcanic opening with quiet dissonant notes that erupt into crashing chords - but still classically Chopin."

Wong, an investor/broker and co-founder at Up&Up, has been playing the piano since the age of 6. He studied at the Academy for Performing Arts in Hong Kong and went on to Winchester College where he was awarded a music scholarship and subsequently completed his Performance Diploma from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. He has performed at Carnegie Hall and other private salons at weddings and enjoys playing both solo and chamber music.

The manuscript found in The Morgan's Arthur Satz Collection is slightly larger than an index card and contains twenty-four notated measures of music. Its size suggests that the piece was likely meant as a gift for someone's autograph book but, since it is unsigned, Chopin probably never gave it to anyone.

When McClellan found the piece, he consulted with various Chopin experts, including Professor Jeffrey Kallberg, and paper conservators at the museum to confirm that it was indeed written by the famous composer. The museum holds one of the best music manuscript collections in the world, with pieces from Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, Debussy, Stravinsky, and more.

The investigation confirmed that Chopin is likely the author of this waltz, but there are still more questions to be answered. Who was the piece intended for? When did Chopin write it? What else can the piece tell us about Chopin's work and classical music?

Next, check out Secrets of the Morgan Library & Museum!