The manuscript, found on a card bearing Fryderyk Chopin’s handwritten name but not his signature, was unearthed in the Morgan Library and Museum's New York vault in late spring, with The New York Times breaking the story at the weekend.
While Robinson McClellan, a curator at the Morgan, has expressed the institution's confidence in the manuscript’s authenticity, the Chopin Institute – the world’s leading center of expertise on the composer – remains skeptical.
Dr. Artur Szklener, director of the Chopin Institute in Warsaw, has acknowledged that the manuscript does exhibit some characteristics typical of Chopin’s early Parisian works.
“It is written in brown ink on period paper, similar to what Chopin used in his first years in Paris, and [...] has features of the ‘Brillante style,’ which also matches the indicated possible time of composition,” Szklener noted in a statement to the press. However, he cautioned that these attributes alone do not confirm its origin.
Some stylistic elements raise doubts about the manuscript’s authenticity. “It is not a complete piece, but rather a musical gesture, a theme embellished with quite simple piano tricks,” Szklener said.
The manuscript also lacks Chopin’s signature – a detail that suggests it may not have been intended as a serious composition, nor even a musical gift, the likes of which the composer was known to lavish on friends and patrons.
It may instead have been a product of Chopin’s tutoring work, where he composed pieces with his students during lessons.
Despite the initial excitement surrounding the discovery, Dr. Aleksander Laskowski, the Institute's spokesperson, echoed the need for caution, stressing that further research is needed before the composition can be fully attributed to the famed Polish composer.
“Our analysis does not give an unambiguous answer if the manuscript can be attributed to Chopin,” Laskowski said, highlighting that while the manuscript has stylistic elements suggestive of Chopin, it certainty remains elusive.
“The matter is too important for a rash statement,” he said.
The piece has already sparked powerful responses from listeners, including renowned pianist Lang Lang, who recently performed it.
Laskowski said: “I listened to this piece as a professional and as an employee of the Chopin Institute... I was moved and curious, but with some reservations.”
Laskowski clarified that all major Chopin compositions were published within his lifetime by various publishers, making it difficult to imagine that a completed work would have gone unrecognized in existing Chopin catalogues.
For now, the newly uncovered manuscript remains a tantalizing but unresolved piece of Chopin’s legacy.
