Transcript of Lost Chopin waltz discovered almost 200 years after it was written | BBC News

Now, let's squeeze in one more story this hour. It's a fascinating story because a new piece of music, believed to be by the Polish composer, Chopin, has been discovered nearly 200 years after it was written. The unknown waltz was unearthed in the vault of the Morgan Library and Museum in New York. Unsurprisingly, it's generated huge excitement. Well, this is a little bit of it being played by the pianist, Lang Lang. We can also hear from the curator, Robinson McClennan, who discovered the manuscript.

When I saw this manuscript, it was unique within this collection, and it immediately caught my eye as something that looked very much like Chopin in the handwriting. And of course, it says Chopin at the top, and it's a waltz in A minor. So I had a feeling of cautious excitement. In my line of work, you doubt until proven otherwise. I took a snapshot on my phone and brought it home and played through a little bit and hummed the tune and had the feeling perhaps, if this is what I think it is, I might be one of the first people in modern times to hear this melody.

Well, that was the curator who first set eyes on it. Well, I'm delighted to say we can speak now to Debbie Weisman, who's conductor and composer of scores, including Wolf Hall, The Mirror and the Light, and two gospel Alleluias for the coronation of King Charles. Debbie, welcome here to the program. So does it sound like a Chopin to you?

Oh, it really does. It's got that distinctive Chopin quality in that huge melodic invention. It's not technically that difficult to play, actually. It's quite simple for a pianist to to grips with pretty quickly, but it's got that gorgeous Chopin melody. It's got that singing quality, which is so, so Chopin. So the right-hand plays the melody and the left hand provides these very lush harmonies underneath. It's got dynamic contrast, which is very typical of him as well. And it's a beautiful, charming, exquisite piece. It's very short, it's only 24 bars long, but within those 24 bars, it's perfectly formed. And I'm I was wondering, because it's a piece that is so short, whether it was a gift for one of his friends. He was quite well known for giving gifts of music to his friends. I'm wondering if this just might be that, something that he wrote on a morning, sat at his piano, and it was a gift for a friend, and it was left there unpublished. But aren't we fortunate to have discovered it?

That's a really interesting theory that he would write a short piece and then give it as a gift to friends. He would do that, would he?

Well, he was known for doing that. And I think the only thing that's drawing me to think that is that it's so short. And I would imagine... Chopin was a hugely prolific composer for the piano. He wrote mazurkas and scherzos, and he had this passion for piano playing himself. This It was a gift for melody, which just flowed out of him in a very natural, organic way, a bit like Schubert with his vocal music. For Chopin, it was his piano music. So because it's so short, he wouldn't have run out of ideas, but it It's short for a reason, and perhaps it's short because it was a gift for a friend, and that would be enough for a friend to... 24 bars, what an amazing birthday present that would be. Absolutely. Thank you very much. I'll have that. But he wouldn't necessarily have written a four-minute piece. So that's what's making me think that it could be that, and he was known for doing that. But it's an exquisite, beautiful melody within those 24 bars. I would love for it to be expanded out into perhaps four or five minutes, and I would imagine Chopin would have done that.

So That's what's teasing me with the fact that maybe this is a gift for a friend. And what a lovely gift. Thank you very much, Chopin.

I've only got one minute left. You mentioned he was prolific, but he died very young. You're on record at saying that Chopin was a musical inspiration to you. Just tell me why, briefly.

It was a melodic invention, really. I've currently got an album out next month called Jack Frost, and it's melodic. The whole thing from beginning to end is melodic. And I think in melody, and I think for me, Chopin is the master of melodic invention, the master of writing a great tune. And that as composers, we aspire to that. We aspire to something that's memorable. So yeah, he couldn't be better at Melody, and we all aspire to be as good as him.

Debbie, great to talk to you. Thanks so much for.