A curator at a New York museum has discovered a previously unknown waltz written by Frédéric Chopin, the first time a new work by the Polish composer has been discovered in nearly 100 years.

The waltz, written on a small manuscript measuring approximately four inches by five inches, was first discovered by curator Robinson McClellan in 2019, who then sought help from an outside expert, according to a statement from the Morgan Library and Museum Monday.

“He found it strange that he could not think of any Chopin waltz that matched the measurements on the page,” the statement read.

“Chopin was famous for his ‘small forms,’ but this work, which lasts about a minute, is shorter than any other waltz of his,” the statement added.

“Nevertheless, it is a complete piece, showing the kind of ‘tightness’ one expects from a completed work by the composer.”

McClellan asked Chopin expert Jeffrey Kallberg, associate dean of arts and letters at the University of Pennsylvania, to help authenticate the waltz. “Extensive research indicates that it is highly likely that the piece is by Chopin,” according to the release.

This research included analysis by paper conservators who found that the paper and ink matched those Chopin normally used.

The Morgan Library & Museum believes that the fact that the manuscript is so small could mean that it was a gift that the recipient would have kept in an autograph album.

Chopin was known to sign manuscripts that were gifts, but this one is unsigned, which the museum says suggests he ultimately decided not to give it away.

“This newly discovered waltz expands our understanding of Chopin as a composer and opens new questions for researchers regarding when he wrote it and who it was intended for,” McClellan said in the release.

“Hearing this work for the first time will be an exciting moment for everyone in the classical piano world.”

“Our extensive music collection is defined by handwritten examples of the creative process and it is exciting to have discovered a new and unknown work by such a renowned composer,” Colin B. Bailey, museum director, said in the release. .

The discovery of an unknown work by Chopin has not occurred since the late 1930s, according to the museum.

The Polish composer was born in 1810 and was best known for his solo piano pieces.

Chopin died in Paris, France, aged just 39. He is one of Poland’s most famous sons and his name adorns the airport serving the capital Warsaw, as well as parks, streets, benches and buildings.

His works and image are omnipresent throughout this central European country, and his residences bear unmissable plaques. Busts and statues bearing his likeness are scattered in several large cities.

Even his heart, preserved in alcohol after his death in 1849, is sealed in a wall of the Holy Cross Church in Warsaw.

But recent suggestions about Chopin’s private life have clashed awkwardly with Poland’s staunchly conservative traditions – and have led some to question whether the story of Chopin, told to Poles from a young age, is true.

According to a Swiss radio documentary broadcast in 2020, the composer had relationships with men, and these relationships have been left aside by successive historians and biographers; a potentially thorny accusation in one of the worst countries in Europe for LGBTQ rights.