Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
9
The Third of a Series of Talks on Chopin and His Music, Showing That
the Player-Piano, Despite Its Limitations, May Be Rendered Capable of
Giving Much Enjoyment to Those Who Love This Great Composer's Music
Most people are aware that Chopin composed
for the piano four pieces to which he gave the
generic title of Ballade; but not so many are
aware of the meaning of the word, or the par-
ticular kind of music Chopin had in mind when
he undertook to write the pieces in question.
It would perhaps be difficult to name any of
the four as not known, loved and played, by
pianists of all degrees; but perhaps the second
one in A flat, opus 47, is the best known, the
best loved and the oftenest played. It is also
without doubt the most grateful from the player-
pianist's standpoint, and most readily lends
itself to a satisfactory interpretation by those
who like to get their own effects, and refuse to
be beguiled by the lure of the reproducing
piano. To such persons—and they exist in plen-
tiful numbers—this article is addressed.
The Meaning of "Ballade"
The word "Ballade" is old French and de-
rives from the same root as the Italian "Ballata,"
which means a tune to be danced whilst singing,
or to be sung whilst dancing. Our word "Bal-
lad" obviously derives from the same source.
The words are of ancient origin and were used
during the Middle Ages throughout Europe in
the sense described. Later on, however, the
idea of dancing seems to have dropped out, so
that a ballad or ballade or ballata became a
song or lay, describing some popular tale of
heroism or historical legend of the people, often
improvised as to words by the minstrel and
sung to music of an equally impromptu nature.
Chopin happily seized upon this name when
he wished to present in music his conception of
certain Polish legends and historical tales. The
Ballade in A flat is one of these musical pic-
tures, and its whole content is changed when
once we realize that Chopin is giving us a direct
reproduction of a knightly tale, and is reciting,
as did the ancient bards, but in tones only, the
adventures of a mediaeval hero.
Chopin's Emulators
The publication of Chopin's four Ballades
naturally evoked the astonishment, and later,
the emulation, of other composers. Their free-
dom from .rigid formality, their declamatory
style, which continually reminds one that a
story is being told, and above all, their remark-
able power to convey to the hearer a picture of
the scenes from which they are conceived, have
all had their share in persuading other musicians
to try their hands at the same style of compo-
sition. That freedom which the Ballade gives,
to express all sorts of irregular ideas, consti-
tutes, no doubt, one of its charms. At any rate,
most of the pieces composed by Schumann,
Brahms, Vieuxtemps, Wieniawsky, Liszt and
others, to which such names as Ballade, Novel-
ette, Legend are given, derive directly from
Chopin.
A Poem in Miniature
Chopin had in mind the presentation of a
poem in miniature, the telling of a legend or
knightly romance in a form easily intelligible
to the hearer. The form of his Ballades is a
sort of cross between a song pure and simple
and a nocturne. It is like a fantasy, and like a
rondo; but not exactly like either of these. If
we call it a poem recited in tone we shall
approach as near as may be to the ideal descrip-
tion. We must therefore judge the Ballade we
are about to study by its poetic, and not by its
technical musical, content.
The Story of Op. 47
Schumann, who was at all times a discrimina-
ting and sympathetic friend to Chopin's music,
has said that the foundation of this Ballade in
A flat is a poem by Adam Mickiewicz, father
of the modern romantic school of Polish poetry.
The story deals with a legend of Lake Switez,
around whose wooded shores so many Polish
folk tales cling. The legend tells of a young
and brave knight who lived in his ancestral
castle on the hills overlooking the lake. Wan-
dering around its shores one night, he was sur-
prised by the apparition of a beautiful maiden
who came into his vision suddenly and mys-
teriously, talked with him long and sweetly;
and as suddenly vanished away.
The following night saw a repetition of the
strange occurrence, and each night thereafter,
for many nights, the cavalier, who had learned
to love his mysterious enslaver with a passion-
ate devotion, was forced to undergo the pain of
seeing, after a long sweet communion with his
beloved, her lovely form suddenly vanish from
before him. Her name, her ancestry, the ex-
planation of the mystery that surrounded her,
she persistently refused to disclose. But the
knight was ardent and his questionings at last
produced an answer. If the lover would remain
faithful to his lady for the space of one whole
month, she would then reappear to him, reveal
her history and grant him the happiness for
which he yearned.
The Knight's Trial
The happy lover, of course, eagerly consented
and the lady again vanished. For many nights
he kept his lonely vigil on the shores of the
lake, eating out his heart with impatience. But
towards the end of the probationary period, on
the shores of the lake and in precisely similar
circumstances, there appeared to him another
maiden, even more beautiful than the first. Less
distant than the promised one, the new beauty
laughed at the knight's devotion to a girl whom
he would never see again, tantalized him with
her graces and finally lured him on to swear
eternal love for her only; and to follow her.
Under the spell of her enchantment, he followed
the maiden around the shores of the lake, ever
keeping an ardent eye upon the object of his
new passion. At last she advanced boldly out
on to the very waters, with the knight, en-
raptured and oblivious to his surroundings, fol-
lowing her blindly. The waves mysteriously bore
them up till they had reached the center of the
lake. Then, just as he was about to throw him-
self into the fair one's arms, she stopped, faced
him and looked him full in the face. Before his
horrified gaze, there .grew upon her countenance
the features of his earlier beloved, the woman
to whom he had sworn fidelity. Bitterly she re-
proached his unfaithfulness, his paltry love that
could not withstand the first trial it met. Raising
her hands, she uttered a magic sentence, in-
voking on him instant death; and vanished
amidst the clap of thunder, the flash of lightning
and the noise of the storm she had called down,
while the hapless knight, no longer supported
by the treacherous waves, sank lifeless to the
bottom of the lake!
The Music
Now, in very truth, it is easy to see in the
music, once you know the story, the whole out-
line of Mickiewicz's poem. The first theme,
with its warmth, its yearning and its ardor,
typifies the knight. The bewitching, tantalizing
grace of the lilting second theme, with its dainty
downward leaps, is the character of the mys-
terious Lady of the Lake. The transformation
of this theme, as it later on is brought out in a
different key, gives the explanation of the dis-
guise she adopted to test her lover's constancy.
The superb climax brings in both themes and
mounting to a tremendous height of passion and
power, plainly depicts the discovery, the re-
proaches, the storm, and the sinking of the
knight beneath the mounting wave.
The Interpretation
In undertaking to interpret this Ballade by
means of the player-piano, one's first care should
be to get the outlines of the story in mind. In
this way the general level of the interpretation
will be settled and it will become intelligent.
The opening chords, in their warm, sensuous
beauty, should be played with light, steady
pedaling and without any attempt to use the
expression devices for accenting either the bass
or the treble halves. The dampers should be
raised during each chord and carried through to
the sounding of the next, so as to produce a
very slight running of each chord-sound into
the next.
The second theme, with its delightful tripping
melody, should be taken gently and with the
phrases well detached from each other. One
thinks of the dark night, the mysterious lake,
and the sudden appearance of the maiden, trip-
ping along its shores. In the development sec-
tion which follows, there may be discovered
various interior melodies hidden in the accom-
paniment. These must be carefully searched
out by several hearings of the music. When
found, the corresponding perforation may be
marked with pencil marks, so that the accent
devices of the player may be used on them as
required.
The whole middle section of the Ballade, fol-
lowing the statement of the two great themes,
is devoted to working out of the second or
maiden theme in various guises and transforma-
tions. The first theme is also transformed and
the two are worked up together to a climax
which is followed by the reappearance of the
second theme in its original form. How clear it
all is; the knight, the maiden, the appearance of
the second fair one who, even in her disguise
is still known to us for what she really is; the
working up of the ardor and passion to its
highest point in combination and development
of theme and accompaniment; and then—the
sudden reappearance of the second theme in its
original form! The lady has thrown aside her
disguise and revealed herself to the foresworn
lover!
From here onward the music hurries to its
appointed end. There is the shock of speech-
less surprise, the bitter reproach, the change
from melting sweetness to flaming anger, the
cry for vengeance, the storm, the faithless lover
(his theme is momentarily heard just before
the close) making one last fruitless appeal, the
last ripple of the maiden's laughter as she mocks
him good-bye, and the four crashing fortissimo
chords that tell of the knight's engulfment be-
neath the wave.
Such is the Ballade in A flat and as such it
must be played if one is to get from its rendi-
tion any real pleasure. The writer would be the
last to pretend that an adequate interpretation is
easy or that it is even feasible except by the
aid of a sensitive instrument of great expressive
power, responsive to the directing will and
capable of sharp accenting. The foregoing de-
scription, however, should be of great value to
any who care to trouble themselves sufficiently
to work it out. Those who do so will be amply
repaid for their labor.
(To be continued)