Lost Chopin sheet music found 200 years after his death

Curators at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York City discovered a music manuscript believed to be by Polish pianist and composer Frédéric Chopin in the museum's collection.

The work measures 4 to 5 inches, similar to other Chopin manuscripts, and was originally intended as a gift, according to the Morgan Library & Museum press release.

Robinson McClellan, associate curator of music manuscripts and printed music at the Morgan Library & Museum, told Fox News Digital via email that this is the first discovery of a new work by Chopin since the 1930s.

“Chopin left it unsigned and unpublished, which was perhaps a sign that he felt some ambivalence about it, but he added performance marks such as piano fingerings and dynamics, which showed that he intended to perform it,” McClellan said.

Library curators examined the music alongside Chopin experts, who say the manuscript is “a significant discovery in the world of classical piano music.”

The sheet music was discovered almost 200 years after Chopin's death. It was believed to have been written sometime between 1810 and 1849. Chopin died in 1849.

“The beginning of the piece is remarkable: several atmospheric, dissonant bars culminate in a loud outburst before a melancholic melody begins. None of his well-known waltzes begin this way, which makes this one all the more fascinating,” the press release says.

Chopin is known to write music in “small forms,” but this rare piece lasts about a minute.

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

The Morgan Library & Museum houses more than 350,000 objects, rare books, manuscripts, drawings, prints and other works of art.

The Chopin piece discovered will be added to the Morgan collection and made available for visitors to study.

“We view this announcement as the beginning of the process, not the end. We hope music lovers, pianists and scholars will study it, absorb it and form their own opinions,” said McClellan.