Episode 7: The New Waltz

The Chopin Podcast

Episode 7 is a special investigation into the newly-discovered Waltz in A minor, attributed to Chopin. As the manuscript’s chain of ownership continues to be researched and more work is being done to verify the work’s authorship, we’re joined by three of the world’s leading Chopin scholars to share their expert insights on the long-lost Waltz.

Beginning from a position of skepticism, Chopin biographer Alan Walker will pose five open questions about the music itself – confronting some of the unusual aspects of the score that would need to be explained before making any stronger claims that this is Chopin’s original composition.

We will then turn to two scholars who will each offer explanations for those oddities and provide insights on the considerations and methods that go into the research on the printed sources for Chopin’s works more generally: first, Professor of Music at the University of Cambridge, John Rink, who was consulted during Morgan Library’s authentication process of the manuscript; then, the man at the center of that process, music historian and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Jeffrey Kallberg, who was among the experts commissioned by the Morgan to examine the document.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Chopin Foundation of the United States, which presents the National Chopin Competition every 5 years. The Chopin Podcast comes on the eve of the 11th National Chopin Competition, to be held in Miami in January 2025. For more, visit chopin.org.

Reserve your seats for earlier rounds and purchase your tickets to the final round of the National Chopin Competition: https://www.chopin.org/2025-competition-schedule

Each episode in this series is dedicated to one of Chopin's major compositional genres, and features Garrick as well as special guests approaching the pieces within that genre from a number of different angles – analytically, historically, and pianistically. Follow us at chopinpodcast.com.

Created and hosted by Ben Laude.