Poems for the Piano: A Century of Ballades — Album notes
Introduction Chopin’s Ballade in G minor, completed in 1835 and first published in 1836, was the first solo piano work of its kind. He later confided in Robert Schumann that he was inspired by the narrative poems—Ballads and Romances—of his Polish compatriot Adam Mickiewicz. The poet’s outspoken advocacy for Polish independence from Russia undoubtedly attracted Chopin, who expressed his outrage against Russia and solidarity with the Polish people only through his private letters and indirectly through his music. If the romantic ballad tells a story of past legends, mixing in moral lessons and supernatural beings and other grand themes, then did Chopin have particular narratives in mind when composing his ballades? In his 1900 biography, Chopin: The Man and his Music , James Huneker writes that “there can be no doubt” that Chopin had a specific programme in mind for each of his four ballades, but wisely left no clue for us to work out any further details....