The purpose of this end-of-course article is to offer a comprehensive analysis of Fredyryk Chopin’s Ballade in G Minor, Op. 23., Nr. 1 as edited by G. Henle USA. This article will discuss the comprehensive elements of Chopin’s Ballade in G minor and will consider the issues of form and tonal schemes.
Said to have been inspired by the poet Adam Mickiewicz, 1 Chopin composed the Ballade in G Minor between 1835-36, during his earliest tenure in Paris.
Chopin’s Ballade in G Minor has been one of the most popular and more frequently programmed of his four Ballades and exists as a staple for many of the greatest pianists of today.
The opening statement of the Ballade in G minor is a good specimen for comparison of the elements that follow in the rest of the ballade.
Example 1 Largo - Chopin Ballade in G Minor, Op. 23., Nr. 1

In the opening of the ballade, marked Largo in 4/4, a low C2 octave claimed by both hands ascends rhythmically by eighth notes through the Neapolitan (A-flat) of the intended key of G minor to a high C6 and descends through a written diminuendo into F-sharp, the leading tone of G minor. As the opening statement descends, its message is interrupted by a three beat rest which halts on a dubious E-flat Major 7 chord. This chord is carried into the start of the moderato section as a low D2 evokes the underlying quality of the moderato now in 6/4. The rhythm of the 6/4 meter suggests a latent waltz-like quality that is only reinforced by the offbeat chords. Further evidence of this waltz-like quality exists in the the portamento style writing of the offbeat chords. While the rhythm of the 6/4 meter suggests a latent waltz-like quality, in each offbeat chord, the quarter notes are slurred under the portame...
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...r by his contemporaries. While Chopin is seen as one of the first to pioneer the ballade as a musical form, various studies on the musical form of his ballades debate whether the musical structure of these works are derivative of sonata form or whether they are inherently exclusive, departing from the traditional categories which were more pervasive during the period; e.g. sonata allegro form, rondo form, and theme and variation. Given the obvious presence of theme, second theme, and variations on the second theme, it can be suggested that Chopin’s ideas for the form of ballade is similar to the structure of a theme and variation; however, as stated in many of the studies on this ballade, further analysis is needed in order to answer the question on whether the ballade is new musical form, a variant of sonata form, or theme and variation cannot be fully answered.
Chopin’s Impromptu arouses "the very passions ... within [Edna’s] soul"(p.34). The harmony, fluidity, subtle rhythm and poetic beauty of the Romantic composer make Edna loose herself in the music that stirs her emotions. The art completes, for her, what nature cannot bring to a finish. The exquisite, looping, and often fiery melodies of the Impromptu make a cut in Edna’s mind through the conventional beliefs about people and society. Because she is not a musician, her listening is based on intuition, allowing for a direct apprehension of the music by the soul and leading to a confrontation with the reality itself — the reality of "solitude, of hope, of longing, ... of despair"(p.34). This is the beginning of Edna’s awakening, for such emotions, especially despair, are not an end but a beginning because they take away the excuses and guilts, those toward herself, from which she suffers. This revelation of previously hidden conflicts gives birth to dramatic emotions within Edna. It is so powerful that Edna wonders if she "shall ever be stirred again as...Reisz’s playing moved" her that night (p.38).
Seyersted, Per, and Emily Toth, eds. A Kate Chopin Miscellany. Natchitoches: Northwestern State University Press, 1979.
...Chopin's The Awakening." Journal For Cultural Research 12.4 (2008): 335-347. Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. 1899. 1865-1914. Ed. Nina Baym and Robert S. Levine. 8th ed. New York: W. W. Norton, 2012. 561-652. Print. Vol. C of The Norton Anthology of American Literature.
Chopin, Kate. ?The Storm.? The Norton Anthology. Ed. Nina Baym, et al. New York: 1999. 1612-1615
Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: W.W. Norton, 2007. 535-625. Print.
The important piano works of Chopin include sonatas, preludes, etudes, polonaises, mazurkas, waltzes, nocturnes, scherzi, and ballades.
The facilitators of this website have posted Chopin’s Bayou Folk in it’s entirety. This book contains 23 of Chopin’s short stories / essays. It is an exceptional representation of Chopin’s writing and the variety of style she accomplished.
It is clear that Beethoven’s stands as being significant in development of the string quartet to a massive extent in creativity and innovation. His early quartets show great influence of those from the Classical period and with his own, has influenced his contemporaries and later composers. The quartets published later in his life show even greater imagination and use of expression. It is also through similar uses of texture, harmony, rhythm and counterpoint that composers of the Romantic period and the 20th century wrote their own string quartets. Beethoven’s however prove a huge advancement in how string quartets are written and the intensity of emotions that they portray.
Frederic Chopin, a Polish Nationalistic composer of the Romantic period, is a famous musician. Chopin’s compositions are individualistic to his talent and love of the piano. Chopin lived in Warsaw as a child and spent a great deal of his life living in Paris amongst other artists of the Romantic period. He was influenced by the people surrounding him and even more from his childhood in Poland. The Polonaise-Fantaisie in A-Flat major opus 61, is musically representative of Chopin and the Romantic period, nationalistic styles from Poland and unique innovations especially from Warsaw.
Works Cited Chopin, Kate. A. The Awakening. New York: Avon, 1972. Print.
Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven. Two composers who marked the beginning and the end of the Classical Period respectively. By analysing the last piano sonata of Haydn (Piano Sonata No. 62 in E-flat major (Hob. XVI:52)) and the first and last piano sonatas of Beethoven (Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor Op. 2, No.1, Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor Op. 111), this essay will study the development of Beethoven’s composition style and how this conformed or didn’t conform to the Classical style. The concepts of pitch and expressive techniques will be focused on, with a broader breakdown on how these two concepts affect many of the other concepts of music. To make things simpler, this essay will analyse only the first movements of each of the sonatas mentioned.
In 1888, after suffering grief from the deaths of her father, mother and her husband, Chopin turned to creative writing as an outlet. She was not particularly well known as a writer during her life. She began writing seriously at the age of 39, when she would have already experienced many maturing life situations. She found her central focus rapidly, and wrote stories whose intriguing characters and settings often disguised the seriousness of their themes. Not greatly involved in the politics of her time, she was nonetheless influenced by such classic masters as Maupassan...
Chopin, Kate. A. “The Story of an Hour.” Baym 1609-1611.
The characteristics of romantic music are influenced by the Romantic Movement, where the arts of literature and painting play a great role in influencing romantic music. Other evidence of non-musical influences in romantic music is the popularity of romantic poetry during that era. Poems, opera arias and works form great romantic poets are transformed into instrumental works and composers like Schubert uses musical elements such as melodies inspired by poetry in his works (http://absoluteastronomy.com). The musical language itself has shown that romantic music is different from the rest of the music before its time. Extended tonal and harmonic elements are noticed in romantic music compared to those in the classical era, where chromaticism, the usage of dissonance, and modulations are used extensively.