Is the waltz discovered in New York really by Chopin?

“Will the revelation turn into a sausage? », asks Christophe Huss in Duty. While the Morgan Library & Museum in New York claimed last week to have discovered a hitherto unknown Chopin waltz, several voices cast doubt on the attribution of the short 48-bar piece. “On social networks, many pianists express doubts about the score and express their disappointment on the musical level,” continues our colleague. Quoted by the BBC, Stephen Hough says he had “some doubts about the authenticity of the manuscript, because it seemed a little rough in places, it didn’t seem as detailed as Chopin’s other compositions. But it’s a bit like coming across the outline of a poem by Keats, for which he had not yet finished finding the exact order of the words, with a few spelling mistakes, but where the ‘we can guess the genius. »

Unusual features

“This is certainly one of the most interesting discoveries of recent years,” concedes Artur Szklener, director of the Frédéric Chopin Institute in Warsaw, in a press release. “Chopin’s original manuscripts are extremely rare and the simple idea that this could be unknown music by the Polish composer electrifies pianists and musicologists. » However, should we get carried away? Certainly, “The manuscript found at the Morgan Library in New York presents a number of characteristics typical of Chopin manuscripts: it is written in brown ink on period paper, similar to that used by Chopin in his early years in Paris. It is slightly thicker and yellower than the later partitions and is clearly distinguishable from the Warsaw partitions, which are characterized by a greenish tint. Musically, the piece displays characteristics of the brilliant style, which also corresponds to the possible era of composition indicated (1830-1835). »

crédit photo : Morgan Library & Museum

However, “the manuscript found presents unusual characteristics for Chopin’s music. First of all, it is not a complete work, but rather a certain musical gesture, a theme dotted with fairly simple pianistic artifices which are reminiscent of a virtuoso style. We can imagine that this is a kind of sketch of the first musical thought, not yet composed in the form of a whole piece, but the characteristics of the manuscript itself do not agree with such concept. Indeed, it resembles Chopin’s gift manuscripts, intended in particular for the recipients’ album. » But, in addition to the absence of signature, Artur Szklener notes that other elements do not go with the idea that the manuscript was copied to be offered, in particular the very detailed dynamic details that it contains. In addition, the fingering indications, “in such a short and simple passage for the pianist, are also surprising. » Asked by the Belgian newspaper The Echothe pianist Costantino Mastroprimiano makes the same remarks: “Chopin almost never gives a fingering indication, except when the passage is very difficult or unusual. But here, there is an indication of a very easy passage…”

Musical poverty

According to the Italian musician, “there is still work for graphology experts. At first glance, I already notice three oddities” in the writing, he says, also noticing a rhythmic inaccuracy while “Chopin is always very precise. »

Stylistically, the score seems musically quite poor to Artur Szklener, who notes “the coexistence of certain gestures which could be considered typical of Chopin, such as a kind of ornamentation in the melody or second shifts in accompaniment, with the over-representation of almost banal traits”. Furthermore, Costantino Mastroprimiano notes that the triple forte on very high notes “was very difficult to obtain on the Pleyel pianos of Chopin’s time. In fact, such an indication would not have been very professional on his part. »

Student work? Youth page?

The manuscript could be, according to Artur Szklener, “a vestige of a pedagogical activity during which Chopin would have co-written with a student during composition lessons, as was the case for the autographs of the Waltz in A minor a you Nocturne in C minor published by Baroness Rothschild, but such a possibility seems contradicted by the small size and neatness of the manuscript. » The two works, first presented as unpublished works by Chopin, are today considered by specialists as “very likely written by the Baroness and corrected by Chopin, who was her teacher”, summarizes Costantino Mastroprimiano.

It will therefore be difficult to provide a definitive conclusion on this rediscovered waltz. “After all, at this stage it is difficult to exclude the possibility that the manuscript is a trace of Chopin’s activity in the pianistic community – perhaps a musical joke or some kind of medley,” concludes Artur Szklener. As for Stephen Hough, he does not think it is one of Chopin’s “best waltzes”, nor “one of his worst waltzes”. “There are quite a few juvenile works that Chopin kept in a drawer and never intended to publish, that were published after his death against his wishes, and this one probably belongs to this drawer. »

Those who want to get an idea can listen to this waltz under the fingers of Lang Lang or Piotr Anderszewski, who rushed to record it.