All four of Chopin's Ballades share a common musical element: a 6 in the time signature, either 6/4 or 6/8, suggesting an 'epic-descriptive metre'.
Compositional Technique
The genre of the piano-ballade was invented by Chopin and served as a model for contemporary composers like Liszt and Brahms.
Performer Biography
Gábor Farkas, the pianist on this album, won the Grand Prix of the New York Concert Artist & Associates competition in 2015, leading to his Carnegie Hall debut in 2016.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Chopin's Ballades were inspired by the ballads and romances of Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz, evoking nostalgia for his homeland and past stories.
Composer Biography
Chopin was a brilliant improviser, like his idols Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Liszt, though he mostly improvised for friends or during composition after moving to Paris.
Performer Biography
Gábor Farkas is a 'Steinway Artist' since 2017 and received the Aoyama Music Award in Japan in 2019 for the best performance of the year.
Composer Biography
According to Georges Sand, a French novelist and Chopin's lover, his compositions were 'pale shadows' of his improvisations, which began spontaneously and majestically.
