(Schumann to Heinrich Dorn, Sept. 14, 1836)
Seven bars unisono, an octave apart, and of an almost boundless narrative begin the Ballade in G minor, Op.23. It was compsed in the year 1836 and was dedicated to M.le Baron de Stockhausen. It is the first of four Ballades by Chopin, considered amongst his greatest works, the inspiration for each reportedly being a reading of the poems of Adam Mickiewicz, a fellow country-man and friend of the composer.
That the crux of each Ballade be symbolic of some great legend seems without doubt, and the legend aligned to the text of Chopin's first Ballade is the final episode of the fourth part of Mickiewicz's "Conrad Wallenrod" - a legend taken from the annals of Lithuania and Prussia - a legend of conflict, infection and dissimilation.
With the suspension at bar 7, Chopin begins his narrative (Kelczinski:"We feel that here will be the plot of a mysterious and fantastic novel") moderato, p - with a gently undulating melody, suggestive of the chord of the seventh, and thus sets his scene. Care should be taken not to impose upon these measures a waltz-like rhythm, where a design more in keeping with the melodic curve seems essential. At bar 36, a more animated and breathless theme appears, the pulse quickening through a subtle two-note phrase confided to the left hand with sonorities transferred. At bar 68, the exposition of the second theme of the Ballade appears.
It is within itself a melody so enigmatic and beautiful that it alone could be the subject of some great myth. Within its kernel there would seem to be the many facets of a personality at once youthful and unyielding, dandyish and defiled, political and poetic - a fragrance which coats thick the air with the fetidity and flavours of Baudelaire's "Les Fleurs du Mal".It must surely be no small coincidence that Andre Gide expresses such a sentiment in his "Notes on Chopin":
"When at the beginning of the Ballade in G minor and immediately after the opening, in order to introduce the major theme which he later takes up in different keys and with new sonorities, after a few indecisive measures in F where only the tonic and the fifth are given, Chopin unexpectedly sounds a deep Bb, which suddenly alters the landscape like the stroke of an enchanter's wand. This incantatory boldness seems to me comparable to a surprising foreshortening by the poet of 'Les Fleur du Mal'. Moreover, it seems to me that in the history of music, Chopin occupies approximately the place(and plays the role) of Baudelaire in the history of poetry, both of them having been misunderstood at first, and for similar reasons."
Like Chopin, Baudelaire possessed a classical sense of form, and in much the same way Chopin exhibited a genius incomparable at choosing the perfectly appropriate harmonies to paraphrase in music the writings of Miciewicz, so too did Baudelaire exhibit a genius incomparable at choosing such words and a language inherently musical. Both artists were set apart by their originality and both could be considered the percursors of things to come. Indeed, a description of the schoolboy Baudelaire, left us by one, Henri Highland, could well be a description of the schoolboy Chopin:
"More refined and distinguished than any other of our classmates, one could imagine no more charming adolescent"
PHILLIP WILCHER
(April 2002 -Article originally published by Music Teacher Magazine)
