Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849): Ballade No. 4 in F Minor Op. 52

Jasmin Fors, piano

Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849) was one of the greatest and most original artists of his day, astounding and moving his contemporaries with his unique, expressive music and his mastery of the keyboard. In his music and playing – their singing quality, bold harmonies, delicately-nuanced dynamics, passionate virtuosity, refinement, poetry and rubato (the subtle variation and moulding of strict time to enrich the phrasing) – he created a world of his own in which the piano was, as an instrument, first employed to consummate perfection. “Cannon buried in flowers”, was how Schumann aptly described Chopin’s music.

Chopin was at the peak of his art when he composed his fourth and last Ballade in F Minor, Op. 52 in 1842. It was also the year in which he wrote the Polonaise in A Flat, Op. 53 and the Scherzo in E, Op. 54.

In the Middle Ages, a ballad was a simple narrative dance song. Over the centuries, it developed and evolved into a literary genre and one favoured by poets. According to one definition, a ballad is an epic-lyrical poem that tells a tragic tale. Musical compositions based on poems began to be called Ballads (or Ballades) from the mid-18th century onwards.

Many of the greatest ballads in world literature date from the Romantic era and were written by such poets as Goethe, Schiller, Heinrich Heine, Walter Scott and John Keats. Chopin is thought to have been inspired by the ballads of the Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz.

Chopin’s musical universe was too large to fit into individual existing forms and it is possible that he adopted the term Ballade in order to free himself of them.

All in all, Op. 52 reminds me of the words conjured forth by Guy de Pourtalès about Chopin’s playing and music: “Then there arose from the piano a voice such as no one, ever, had heard before. All at once each one perceived in it the cry of his most private innermost self. It was neither a tale, nor a brilliant commentary, but the simple song of life; a perfect confidence; the essential word of the heart.”

–JF / Translation: Susan Sinisalo