The Fryderyk Chopin Institute in Warsaw has added a rare manuscript written by the famed Polish composer to its collection after purchasing it from private owners.
The manuscript depicts the first, unpublished version of Chopin’s 1842 Ballade in F Minor, Op. 52, the institute said.
The item was paid for using funds from Poland’s Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, which said that it was unable to reveal the price it paid as a condition of the purchase contract.
During a press conference at the Chopin Museum on Thursday, Polish Culture Minister Hanna Wróblewska said: “I am delighted that we could support the process of acquiring this extremely valuable piece for Poland,” adding that the item was a “treasure.”
Negotiations to purchase the artifact from private collectors had been ongoing since 2021, according to the director of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, Artur Szklener.
He said: “We are dealing with an absolutely unique situation, when Chopin most likely wrote the entire piece, in its finished version, before deciding in the end that he needs to make changes.
“One of these changes was so important, that he had to write everything down again…what was this change? A change in the meter, from 6/4 to 6/8,” Szklener said, adding that Chopin likely intended the piece to be played more fluidly.
The item was paid for using funds from Poland’s Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, which said that it was unable to reveal the price it paid as a condition of the purchase contract.
During a press conference at the Chopin Museum on Thursday, Polish Culture Minister Hanna Wróblewska said: “I am delighted that we could support the process of acquiring this extremely valuable piece for Poland,” adding that the item was a “treasure.”
Negotiations to purchase the artifact from private collectors had been ongoing since 2021, according to the director of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, Artur Szklener.
He said: “We are dealing with an absolutely unique situation, when Chopin most likely wrote the entire piece, in its finished version, before deciding in the end that he needs to make changes.
“One of these changes was so important, that he had to write everything down again…what was this change? A change in the meter, from 6/4 to 6/8,” Szklener said, adding that Chopin likely intended the piece to be played more fluidly.
Following Chopin’s death in 1849, the manuscript was given to his friend and fellow composer, Josef Dessauer, before passing out of recorded history.
It was eventually purchased at an antique shop in the Swiss city of Lucerne by art collector Rudolf F. Kallir in 1933, before being passed down to his heirs.
It is one of only two known surviving original copies of the Ballade in F Minor, with the other being in possession of the Bodleian Library at Oxford University.
The composition is on display to the public until Sunday at the Fryderyk Chopin Museum in the Polish capital, and will be displayed again from June 12 to October 30 as part of an exhibition accompanying the 19th International Chopin Piano Competition.
It was eventually purchased at an antique shop in the Swiss city of Lucerne by art collector Rudolf F. Kallir in 1933, before being passed down to his heirs.
It is one of only two known surviving original copies of the Ballade in F Minor, with the other being in possession of the Bodleian Library at Oxford University.
The composition is on display to the public until Sunday at the Fryderyk Chopin Museum in the Polish capital, and will be displayed again from June 12 to October 30 as part of an exhibition accompanying the 19th International Chopin Piano Competition.
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