LDV14

The mood changes completely with the Third Ballade. If one were to imagine – as a purely intellectual construct, because there’s no evidence for it – that the four ballades form a single entity, then the Third would be its scherzo. It’s the happiest of the four – even though it’s traversed by storms and darker moments – and the lightest in the psychological sense of the term. I’m very fond of this piece. Finally, there are relatively few works by Chopin that are genuinely cheerful and that end, as this op.47 does, with such irresistible enthusiasm. In stylistic terms we can see a considerable evolution here. There’s sometimes a tendency to underestimate this piece in comparison with the other ballades, yet it contains brilliant strokes of harmonic inspiration, modulations of incredible audacity. And one can also see appearing, here and there, a polyphonic idiom that enriches the discourse and testifies to Chopin’s study of Bach. From now on this becomes an integral part of his language. The introductory phrase of the Third Ballade is pure Chopin, but if you analyse the writing, you discover an elaborate polyphonic texture with the voices in contrary motion; it’s extraordinary. The lesson of Bach is totally assimilated. The Third Ballade gives me the feeling that the discourse has been liberated. 20 CHOPIN