I was talking to a friend the other day who said that he was looking for a piece by Chopin that was never completed because of his death... I cannot remember the name, but do remember that it started with a "P." Anybody know what it is??

As far as I know there is no piece left "unfinished by Chopin because of his death." There are several pieces that were published posthumously that Chopin had chosen for various reasons not to publish himself as well as a few fragments and sketches that he hadn't developed but these were consciously put aside during his lifetime, some when he was quite young, not pieces interrupted by his demise. He actually requested that all his unpublished pieces, fragments and sketches be burned upon his death. This request was not honored.

"P" may be for posthumous.

There was an uncompleted Chopin Prelude called "The Devil's Trill" which was discovered/resurrected by a U_of_Penn. faculty member.

The first link below is NY Times article about it.

The second link will let you download the mp3 from Rapidshare. The original link at the U of Penn. no longer has it available. I downloaded it quite a while ago

Enjoy!

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B00E3DC1530F931A25756C0A9649C8B63&fta=y

http://rapidshare.com/files/80384391/Ch_devitrillPrelude.mp3.html

oh wow ! i never knew anything about this prelude!!
thanks a lot for the article!

The Devil's trill is one of the fragments he put aside. He was working on it in Majorca many years before his death. It's apparently an abortive prelude. It's a weird little thing. It was very difficult to sort out (and I'm not sure it is sorted out) because Chopin didn't even indicate clefs and his manuscripts were far from user friendly.

since there is a recording of the prelude
the question arises : Are there also sheets ?

Does anyone know how many fragments he set aside that are posthumous?

If you really want to pursue this, try contacting Prof. Kallberg. He seems to have studied Chopin's manuscripts extensively. Here's some contact Info:

University of Pennsylvania Department of Music
Department Chair
Jeffrey Kallberg
201 South 34th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6313
t: 215-898-7544
f: 215-573-2106
email: music@sas.upenn.edu

I think you might be talking about the Mazurka in F Minor composed in 1849, which is believed to have been Chopin's last composition. I also heard somewhere in discussion that a friend of his who was with him at his deathbed wrote the music down and completed it for him? I don't know if this is true, just pass it on as I heard about it in discussion. According to the notes on my music, the first publication of this work did not have a Fine. I have heard different artists end this one in different ways. I like the way Rubenstein does it.

I think you might be talking about the Mazurka in F Minor composed in 1849, which is believed to have been Chopin's last composition. I also heard somewhere in discussion that a friend of his who was with him at his deathbed wrote the music down and completed it for him? I don't know if this is true, just pass it on as I heard about it in discussion. According to the notes on my music, the first publication of this work did not have a Fine. I have heard different artists end this one in different ways. I like the way Rubenstein does it.

Sorry about the reload . . . I seem to have this problem a lot

Oh, sorry - Opus 68, No. 4 (Posthumous) Andantino

It has just occurred to me that your friend could have been watching the old 1945 bioflick of Chopin, A Song to Remember - there's a little thread in the story where Chopin is supposedly in the middle of writing the op53 Polonaise (which symbolises the Polish cause), but doesn't finish it because he gets caught up with George Sand ... etc etc. Could this be the supposed unfinished "P" piece? Worth asking if they've watched this movie lately .

If so you can tell him that the piece is Polonaise in A flat op53, that it was finished, and that A Song to Remember, though rather gorgeous, is not to be relied on for factual information about Chopin .