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Saudi Cultural Sector Sees Growth Across Various Fields

The Riyadh International Book Fair 2023 (SPA)
The Riyadh International Book Fair 2023 (SPA)
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Saudi Cultural Sector Sees Growth Across Various Fields

The Riyadh International Book Fair 2023 (SPA)
The Riyadh International Book Fair 2023 (SPA)

A recent report on Saudi Arabia’s cultural sector shows that 2023 saw significant growth in cultural activities, including theater, film, and performance arts.
This growth is attributed to strong support and empowerment within the sector.
“The Cultural Status in Saudi Arabia 2023” report by the Kingdom’s Ministry of Culture noted that 2023 was marked by steady, gradual development rather than a sudden burst of activity.
The cultural sector has been growing steadily, reflecting the long-term impact of institutional efforts that began a few years ago.
Saudi Arabia’s cultural sector, as per the report, has grown its economic contribution by over 20%.
The sector has recovered well from the pandemic’s impact, with its contribution reaching 35 billion riyals, or 1.49% of non-oil GDP, almost back to pre-pandemic levels.
The report also revealed increased cultural activity and rising demand for cultural services and products, and highlighted promising prospects for turning cultural projects into financially successful and sustainable ventures.
In 2023, Saudi Arabia’s publishing and translation sectors had mixed results.
Literary publishing and Saudi authors’ publication rates fell to their lowest since 2019. However, Saudi authors’ international publications increased, making up 22% of the year’s literary output.
Research and scientific publishing hit a four-year high, with 405 papers in peer-reviewed journals.
Of these, 82% were by researchers from Saudi universities. International research made up 36% of contributions, while independent researchers added 7%.
The report identified several challenges requiring more effort, centered around comprehensive sustainability.
These include balancing economic, social, and environmental factors, such as addressing geographic centralization, uneven distribution of cultural activities, and ensuring equitable access for all social groups.
There is also a need for better regulations to boost investment in the cultural sector.
A major environmental challenge is protecting cultural and natural heritage from climate change.
The report highlighted the growing recognition of climate change’s threat to heritage sites and the need for proactive steps to preserve these valuable cultural and historical sites.

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Has a Waltz Written by Composer Frederic Chopin Been Discovered in an NYC Museum?

A previously unknown musical manuscript, possibly by Frederic Chopin, rests in a display case after it was discovered at The Morgan Library & Museum, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in New York. (AP)
A previously unknown musical manuscript, possibly by Frederic Chopin, rests in a display case after it was discovered at The Morgan Library & Museum, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in New York. (AP)
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Has a Waltz Written by Composer Frederic Chopin Been Discovered in an NYC Museum?

A previously unknown musical manuscript, possibly by Frederic Chopin, rests in a display case after it was discovered at The Morgan Library & Museum, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in New York. (AP)
A previously unknown musical manuscript, possibly by Frederic Chopin, rests in a display case after it was discovered at The Morgan Library & Museum, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in New York. (AP)

The brooding waltz was carefully composed on a sheet of music roughly the size of an index card. The brief, moody number also bore an intriguing name, written at the top in cursive: “Chopin.”

A previously unknown work of music penned by the European master Frederic Chopin appears to have been found at the Morgan Library & Museum in Manhattan.

The untitled and unsigned piece is on display this month at the opulently appointed institution, which had once been the private library of financier J. P. Morgan.

Robinson McClellan, the museum curator who uncovered the manuscript, said it's the first new work associated with the Romantic era composer to be discovered in nearly a century.

But McClellan concedes that it may never be known whether it is an original Chopin work or merely one written in his hand.

The piece, set in the key of A minor, stands out for its “very stormy, brooding opening section” before transitioning to a melancholy melody more characteristic of Chopin, McClellan explained.

“This is his style. This is his essence,” he said during a recent visit to the museum. “It really feels like him.”

McClellan said he came across the work in May as he was going through a collection from the late Arthur Satz, a former president of the New York School of Interior Design. Satz had acquired it from A. Sherrill Whiton Jr., an avid autograph collector who had been director of the school.

McClellan then worked with experts to verify its authenticity.

The paper was found to be consistent with what Chopin favored for manuscripts, and the ink matched a kind typical in the early 19th century when Chopin lived, according to the museum. But a handwriting analysis determined the name “Chopin” written at the top of the sheet was penned by someone else.

Born in Poland, Chopin was considered a musical genius from an early age. He lived in Warsaw and Vienna before settling in Paris, where he died in 1849 at the age of 39, likely of tuberculosis.

He’s buried among a pantheon of artists at the city’s famed Père Lachaise Cemetery, but his heart, pickled in a jar of alcohol, is housed in a church in Warsaw, in keeping with his deathbed wish for the organ to return to his homeland.

Artur Szklener, director of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute in Warsaw, the Polish capital city where the composer grew up, agreed that the document is consistent with the kinds of ink and paper Chopin used during his early years in Paris.

Musically, the piece evokes the “brilliant style” that made Chopin a luminary in his time, but it also has features unusual for his compositions, Szklener said.

“First of all, it is not a complete work, but rather a certain musical gesture, a theme laced with rather simple piano tricks alluding to a virtuoso style,” Szklener explained in a lengthy statement released after the document was revealed last month.

He and other experts conjecture the piece could have been a work in progress. It may have also been a copy of another's work, or even co-written with someone else, perhaps a student for a musical exercise.

Jeffrey Kallberg, a University of Pennsylvania music professor and Chopin expert who helped authenticate the document, called the piece a “little gem” that Chopin likely intended as a gift for a friend or wealthy acquaintance.

“Many of the pieces that he gave as gifts were short – kind of like ‘appetizers’ to a full-blown work,” Kallberg said in an email. “And we don’t know for sure whether he intended the piece to see the light of day because he often wrote out the same waltz more than once as a gift.”

David Ludwig, dean of music at The Juilliard School, a performing arts conservatory in Manhattan, agreed the piece has many of the hallmarks of the composer’s style.

“It has the Chopin character of something very lyrical and it has a little bit of darkness as well,” said Ludwig, who was not involved in authenticating the document.

But Ludwig noted that, if it's authentic, the tightly composed score would be one of Chopin’s shortest known pieces. The waltz clocks in at under a minute long when played on piano, as many of Chopin’s works were intended.

“In terms of the authenticity of it, in a way it doesn’t matter because it sparks our imaginations,” Ludwig said. “A discovery like this highlights the fact that classical music is very much a living art form.”

The Chopin reveal comes after the Leipzig Municipal Libraries in Germany announced in September that it had uncovered a previously unknown piece likely composed by a young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in its collections.