The Ballade or Ballad was originally a sung poem, recounting a myth or an historical event. The form, with its connotations of simple folkloric authenticity, became popular in literature with the rise of Romanticism; Chopin is usually credited with originating the genre for the piano.
The first three Ballades are said to have been inspired by poems by Adam Mickiewicz, a Polish poet living in exile in Paris like Chopin himself, although Chopin never confirmed the precise sources or programs for these works.
