An obscure Chopin waltz written nearly 200 years ago has been discovered in the vaults of the Morgan Library and Museum in New York.
The score, written on a card with Frederic Chopin's name handwritten on it, was found by a curator in the spring, the newspaper reported. "The New York Times.
"I thought, 'What's going on here? What could this be? I didn't recognize the music,'" curator Robinson McClellan was quoted as saying by AFP.
At first, he was unsure that the work was actually by Chopin, after he filmed the score and played it on the keyboard at home.
He consulted an academic at the University of Pennsylvania who is an expert on Chopin before Morgan concluded the find was genuine after testing the ink and paper.
The handwriting was also found to match Chopin's, including the reproduction of a stylized symbol for a bass clef, as well as drawings characteristic of the composer.
"We have complete confidence in our conclusion," McClellan said.
The museum believes the music is from the period 1830-1835, when Chopin was in his early 20s.
The tune features a stark beginning and was described by pianist Lang Lang as containing "dramatic darkness that turns into something positive."
Chopin, who wrote mostly piano solos, died at the age of 39 in 1849 in France. | BGNES
