Ballade No. 4 in F Minor

The main melody that appears partway through Chopin's fourth Ballade might seem familiar—it is a variation on the Slavic dance that the composer uses in various pieces, including the first of the Trois Nouvelles Études. The gentle, dance-like accompaniment occasionally explodes in a firework of notes, like a lit Catherine Wheel whirring into action. As with the other ballades, these energetic outbursts are balanced with more ponderous sections. The right-hand melody eventually evolves into a virtuosic cadenza-like passage that demands smoothness and an even touch. However, these technical complexities pale into insignificance when considered alongside the coda, a riot of repeated ascending and descending scales that end with confident final chords. Not for nothing is Ballade No. 4—one of Chopin's final works, composed in 1842, just a few years before his early death in 1849—considered among the finest pieces of piano music ever written: often imitated, never matched. About Chopin's Ballades Composed between 1831 and 1842, Chopin's Ballades broke new ground with their free-form structures. The four pieces for solo piano are played as individual works in their own right, yet are united by a distinctive use of contrasting musical ideas (sometimes referred to as subjects). As a devotee of the newly invented piano, Chopin's compositions highlight the instrument’s poetic capabilities—finely wrought melodies and layered textures are central to the Ballades. But the Polish composer was also boldly innovative: the series is sprinkled with freewheeling keyboard acrobatics, punchy bass lines and harmonic surprises.