{"id":2192,"date":"2010-07-07T09:19:09","date_gmt":"2010-07-07T09:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pianostreet.com\/blog\/?p=2192"},"modified":"2016-07-23T14:11:41","modified_gmt":"2016-07-23T14:11:41","slug":"the-four-ballades-by-chopin-%e2%80%93-new-urtext-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pianostreet.com\/blog\/site-news\/the-four-ballades-by-chopin-%e2%80%93-new-urtext-edition-2192\/","title":{"rendered":"The Four Ballades by Chopin \u2013 New Urtext Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Piano Street has today published a new urtext edition of the four Ballades by Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Chopin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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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.
\nThe 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.<\/p>\n

According to these speculations the first Ballade, for example, is inspired by Mickiewicz’s poem “Konrad Wallenrod”.
\nThe plot described by Wikipedia:<\/p>\n

In a preface, Mickiewicz briefly outlines the history of the region to date, describing the interactions among the Lithuanians, Prussians, Pole, and Russians. The following six cantos tell the story of Wallenrod, a fictional Lithuanian pagan captured and reared as a Christian by his people’s long-standing enemies, the Order of Teutonic Knights. He rises to the position of Grand Master, but is awakened to his heritage by a mysterious minstrel singing at an entertainment. He then seeks vengeance by deliberately leading the Knights into a major military defeat. It transpires that Wallenrod has a wife, Aldona, who has been living in seclusion. The Knights discover his treason and sentence him to death; Aldona refuses to flee with him. He then commits suicide.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more:
\nChopin’s Polish ballade: op. 38 as narrative of national martyrdom, by Jonathan Bellman<\/a><\/p>\n

Other great reading:
\n“A look inside Chopin\u2019s G minor Ballade, Op. 23” by Beth Levin (lafolia.com)<\/a><\/p>\n

UNIQUE VIDEO CLIP!
\nYuja Wang plays Chopin Ballade no 1 in G minor in her graduation recital on 16 October 2006 at the Curtis Institute of Music:<\/p>\n