14. Ballade

opening

I anticipated playing this piece by Friedrich Burgmüller so much that I cheated and started previewing the main left-hand section weeks before I actually finished all the pieces leading up to it. I had realized that it was going to take more finger control than I possessed then to play Ballade acceptably, so I think that preview was beneficial. By the time I actually got to it, I could in fact play the right-hand staccato along with the left-hand legato at a decent third-grade pace. (Note: the John Thompson text has no tempo indication but allegro con brio, so the definition of "energetic" is left somewhat open to interpretation. In the Burgmüller text, however, a much stricter speed of 104 is indicated per bar. I'm going with a slower version of energetic for now.) The opening bars above contain C-minor triads that should be played both mysteriously and quietly, and since piano is also indicated when the left hand comes in (view right), I've had to learn to modulate the volume of notes that are also being played at a fast tempo. This is a bit difficult for me because fast tends to be synonymous with loud when my hands are learning the tempo as well as the notes. (I read somewhere that each level of sound should have at least three gradations: three levels of ppp, three of pp, and so on.) Now I've always known that I have too heavy a hand to play anything really delicately and that I was going to need to work on that. In order to play this song anywhere near correctly, I guess I'm going to have to start working on it right away. Otherwise, the piece will tend to sound gruff and harsh, and it's too good a song to butcher in that way. The register is low enough and the tones ever so slightly dissonant that care must be taken to make it sing, and even though cantabile isn't indicated, I think it's desirable to aim at something close to that.

What occurs at this point (above) in the score isn't truly syncopation because it's the last (and not the first) beats that are dropped from each bar, but it seems syncopated. In fact, if you're not careful, it sort of feels that the second of the quavers in each bar is positioned at the beginning of the bar (as though the beams straddled bars or something). This is obviously not the case, so I have to take care not to become disoriented while playing or singing this section. I'm okay with it now. Like I said, I've been surreptitiously practising it for a while.

To the right, a key change occurs for the first time. It goes from C minor to C major, and the text doesn't simply drop the flats but naturalizes them, I guess to emphasize that the lack of key signature for the next few bars isn't just an oversight. This section is where the piece truly starts to sing. A lilting melody takes over, and the dissonance is suspended for a few bars. I think it would be interesting to examine the transitions between the two sections. First, a C minor chord is followed by two Gs an octave apart, and finally by a G major chord to lead into the change. After that section, a progression of the notes G#, F, D, and G heralds the return of the original key (C minor). I'm still trying to work out its meaning. Is that the usual way of switching between major and minors of the same root key? I haven't had much experience with that, so I'll have to look out for similar transitions in the future.

Here's the final return to the dissonant refrain, now played by both hands in unison. These measures are fun to play once I overcome my false starts. After this climax, the song fades out on four C minor chords. All in all, it's a very satisfying piece. I'm glad I've finally learned it. 

Now comes the hard work of practising so I actually play it as Burgmüller intended.

Alan Chan's rendition