Unknown waltz by Chopin unearthed at the Morgan Library & Museum in NYC

Among the best known works of Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) are his waltzes. He wrote about 25 compositions in the style, with 18 surviving. Among them are the familiar Grande valse brillante and the Minute Waltz.

When Daniil Trifonov, CSO Artist-in-Residence this season, presents an SCP Piano recital Nov. 17, his program will feature a few Chopin waltzes — to be announced from the stage.

And now an additional Chopin waltz has surfaced, which perhaps Trifonov will perform in concert someday.

The waltz, in A minor, was discovered earlier this year in the vault of New York City’s Morgan Library & Museum, among a collection of postcards signed by Picasso and letters from Brahms and Tchaikovsky.

Curator-composer Robinson McClellan found the manuscript and immediately noticed the name Chopin written across the top.

After taking a photo with his iPhone, McClellan sent the image to Jeffrey Kallberg, a Chopin expert at the University of Pennsylvania. “My jaw dropped,” Kallberg told the New York Times. “I knew I had never seen this before.”

Morgan’s experts authenticated the work, the size of an index card, by analyzing the paper, ink and musical style. “We have total confidence in our conclusion,” McClellan said. “Now it’s time to put it out there for the world to take a look and form its own opinions.”

After sending him a copy of the manuscript, New York Times reporter Javier C. Hernández contacted superstar pianist Lang Lang to get his reaction to the discovery. “Wow, this is a great piece!” he said. “I’m very surprised. It’s very Chopin. It must be Chopin. It sounds very much like Chopin, with a very dramatic darkness turning into a positive thing. It’s beautiful.”

Hernández asked Lang Lang about the work’s significance. “This level of music-making — it always touches us the deepest,” he said. “To have a new work by this level of great artist — we’re just so lucky. Just enjoy it.”