The Ballad op.23 No. 1 in G minor by F. Chopin was composed in 1835, although some sketches we received evidence that Chopin was working there since 1831.
Pezzo complex in structure, as all the ballads of the Polish composer, the first Ballade in G minor is a track divided into several sections and is definitely one of my favorite piano pieces.
The song begins with a Neapolitan sixth (in its conformation that is more typical in its first inversion of the harmony of the two lesser degree, in this case, therefore, built on the harmony of the major triad of b), which leads off at whole measure of dominant harmony. Until then, the introduction, a kind of recitative, almost mimicking a cello tone, does not seem to reveal the shades of belonging, playing with the flat tonal elements as perceived by the listener (on the b seems the root).
Like many large pieces of the Romantic piano virtuoso, but this ballad seems to infuse musical ideas of different kinds among them: we could describe them as " lyrical expressiveness" on one side and " brilliance, power and passion rhetoric" on the other.
ideas are two main themes. The first emerges immediately after the introduction (ie bar 7 in G minor, about 30 "in the video) and a melody that appears only in a minor key with an accompanying "Snatched" which recalls the drama in the style of the ballad. The second, which appears to size 67, (2 minutes and 30 seconds in the video) is a musical idea passionate, heroic, so major (E flat), and initially characterized by a slight ambiguity in the key of E flat and B flat major, for the simple fact that it is introduced by a secondary dominant (more than 4 beats we focus on the F major). between these ideas will be subject to intersect at other times of transition such as this beautiful episode of the measure 36 and another measuring 138 (absent in the video). These are two episodes that possess such stability metric-harmonic now taking a clear identity and shall be subject to counter the main themes of the song that appear under the "guise changed" during the ballad. Beautiful reappearance, for example, the first theme in measure 94 (3.40 "in the video) in a completely different climate, suitable for the preparation of the central, heroic and among the most passionate of all romantic piano literature, which explodes in all its beauty measures 106 (4.05).
Damiano Franco plays the Ballade in G minor op.23
(F. Chopin)
But the real surprise of the song is yet another reappearance of the first subject to measure 194. This time is based on a long foot-Re (a feature absent in any of his previous releases) and connects to the "Presto con fuoco" final played by myself in the next video.
Robert Schumann said in a review of this composition to music by Chopin: "He (Chopin) said he had been inspired ballads from his poems of Adam Mickiewicz " we do not know exactly the meaning and value of word "inspired" (inspired by the literary content of the text of a particular ballad the poet? about it some believe that the song is inspired by the literary-narrative poem Konrad Wallenrod of 1828) but it is irrefutable the link between national epic works of two Polish artists.
Personally I do not care much. In fact, I probably should not know the content that inspired the musician is given more space and freedom to "contextualize" at will the thoughts of the listener and the performer.
Presto con fuoco ...