The 30 Minute Rule begins May 13 at 7:00 PM EDT. An Initial Bid Must Be Placed By May 13 at 6:00 PM EDT To Participate After 6:00 PM EDT
AMQS by Frédéric Chopin, accomplished in ink on both sides of an 8.25 x 5.5 sheet featuring an ornate purple border, no date [Paris]. Chopin cleanly pens the complete piano score of the Polish song "Wiosna, paroles de Witwicki," op. posth. 74 nr. 2 in g minor, indicated "All[egre]tto." Signed and inscribed below the music in French, “Madame Kiené, hommage respectueux, de son dévoué, Chopin.”
Likely composed in the spring of 1838 as an Andantino for one singing voice with piano accompaniment, the work reflects the melancholic character of the Polish dumka, the counterpart to the Polish idyllic song, and is set to a text by Stefan Witwicki. The oscillation between G minor and B-flat major creates a nostalgic, open-ended (‘senza-fine’) mood. The work is thought to have been dedicated to the pianist Marie Catherine Kiéné, née Leyer, the mother of the pianist and composer Anne Marie Bigot de Morogues, who died at a young age, and taught the piano to Fanny Hensel and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy.
Chopin later arranged the accompaniment as a standalone piano work (Andantino in G minor, B. 117), and surviving manuscripts attest to his continued refinement of the composition. His Polish songs largely remained private, improvised within intimate circles rather than presented in concert, and some existed only in draft form, with indications that he intended them for destruction; only 19 songs are known today. The first edition of Wiosna appeared posthumously in 1856, published in Warsaw by Aleksander Gins to a text by Stanisław Jachowicz.
Signed autograph musical quotations by Chopin are rarely encountered; an inscribed example of this scope offers a scarce manuscript witness to his vocal-piano writing, linking his intimate compositional practice with the musical life of his Parisian circle.
This item is Pre-Certified by PSA/DNA
Buy a third-party letter of authenticity for
$200.00
*This item has been pre-certified by a trusted third-party authentication service, and by placing a bid on this item, you agree to accept the opinion of this authentication service. If you wish to have an opinion rendered by a different authenticator of your choosing, you must do so prior to your placing of any bid. RR Auction is not responsible for differing opinions submitted 30 days after the date of the sale.
