Chopin Ballades

   Frédéric Chopin's four Ballades are one-movement pieces for solo piano. These large-scale works last from eight to twelve minutes, are among the most challenging pieces in the standard piano repertoire, and are among the most popular of Chopin's compositions.

Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Opus 23, was composed in 1836. It is featured in the 2002 Roman Polanski movie The Pianist. It is also played in the 1944 movie Gaslight, and heard in the 2006 movie Thank You for Smoking. It is the music for the climactic pas-de-deux dance in John Neumeier's 1978 staging of the ballet The Lady of the Camellias, based upon the 1848 novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The piece was the subject of the 2012 BBC documentary Chopin Saved My Life.

Ballade No. 2 in F major, Opus 38, was composed in 1839. Robert Schumann, who had dedicated his Kreisleriana, Opus 16, to Chopin, received the dedication of this Ballade in return. In the words of composer Alan Rawsthorne, at the end of the coda the andantino theme becomes “a whispered reminder of the very opening,” which “vibrates in the memory.”

Ballade No. 3 in A-flat major, Opus 47, was composed in 1841. It has structural similarities with Chopin's Raindrop Prelude. Frederick Niecks, Chopin’s first important biographer, said, “a quiver of excitement runs through the whole piece... There is suffused a most exquisite elegance.”

Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Opus 52, was composed in 1842 and revised in 1843. Of the four Ballades, it is considered by many pianists to be the most difficult, both technically and musically. It is generally agreed to be one of the sublime works of Romantic music. According to composer/pianist John Ogdon, "[it is] the most exalted, intense and sublimely powerful of all Chopin's compositions ... It is unbelievable that it lasts only twelve minutes, for it contains the experience of a lifetime."

Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849), who wrote mostly for solo piano, is generally considered to be one of the great masters of Romantic music. His work, often sounding like spontaneous improvisation, is characterized by beautiful rhythmic melodies expressive of heart-felt emotion.

Tutorials

Ballade No. 1


Ballade No. 2


Ballade No. 3


Ballade No. 4


Sheetmusic at IMSLP