Two piano works attributed posthumously to Chopin may in fact be by a student of the composer.

A recent claim that some of J.S. Bach’s most celebrated works were in fact written by his wife was met with almost unanimous disapproval by music academics and Bach lovers alike. Now the provenance of two works by another well-known composer has been cast into doubt.

Pianist Philip Sears, while looking for rare repertoire on the Bibliotèque Nationale de France Gallica website, stumbled upon four piano pieces published during the 1860s apparently composed by Baronne Nathaniel de Rothschild, aka Charlotte de Rothschild. However upon closer inspection of the scores, Sears has revealed how he was “amazed to discover” that two of the Rothschild works were identical to two pieces posthumously attributed to Frédéric Chopin. Nocturn in C Minor, unpublished until 1937 and Waltz in A minor, unpublished until 1955, are a note for note match with the Rothschild pieces, although there are some differences in the dynamic markings that appear in the Chopin Henle Urtext edition. Charlotte de Rothschild was a student of Chopin’s and this close association with the composer could indicate how the pieces came to be absorbed into his oeuvre.

Charlotte de Rothschild

Speaking on the discovery Sears said, “I am not only curious as to how these pieces came to be published under another name, but also as to the provenance of the other two pieces in the set, a Polka in C minor and a Waltz in F minor. I can’t match these up to any listed work by Chopin but they are certainly in his style.”

Sears has recorded the Rothschild Polka and released it on his YouTube channel. No doubt Chopin scholars will be keen to investigate the alleged mistaken identity of the two works currently thought to be by Chopin.