Ballade No. 2 in F major, Op. 38

Frédéric Chopin (1,810–1,849)

First published: 1840
Key: F major
Style: Romantic
Level: Licentiate
Roughly: RCM LRCM · ABRSM LRSM · Trinity LTCL · Henle 8
Lesson: L.6 Join violently contrasting sound worlds
Musicianship: L.6 Chromatic progressions
Focus: Sustain the Andantino/Presto con fuoco contrast, prepare tempo changes and trace the changing relationship of F major and A minor.

What its lesson teaches

L.6 Join violently contrasting sound worlds

Prepare Chopin’s complete Second Ballade, Op. 38. Compare its Andantino and Presto con fuoco materials, their tonal settings and the way each returns. Plan the transitions from the complete score instead of assuming that every contrast is a new sonata section. Practise the turbulent texture with its essential bass and melodic notes first, then preserve those lines in the full figuration.

Ideas: Character pieces and genres
Sforzando, subito and sudden contrasts
Sonata form
Theory cards: From form map to decisions
Shaping a recital
Technique: F major scale, hands together, 4 octaves
A harmonic minor scale in double thirds, hands together, 2 octaves (faster: Licentiate tempo)

Edition and licence

Score: First Editions of Fryderyk Chopin's Music

Website: https://chopinscores.org

Digital scores: https://github.com/pl-wnifc/humdrum-chopin-first-editions

License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Adapted by Musalea: converted to MusicXML with every bar the converter misread rebuilt from the encoding and the performance markings restored; a complete cycle or sonata is joined in order without changing the music.

Practice tempos: from the encoding where it gives them, otherwise from Kullak's recommendations (1881–1883) or chosen by Musalea; they are practice targets, not the composer's metronome marks. The printed tempo words are kept and no number is shown in the score.

Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, first German edition, 1840, plate 6330

Encoding source: https://github.com/pl-wnifc/humdrum-chopin-first-editions

Digital licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ · CC BY 4.0

BALLADE

First Editions of Fryderyk Chopin's Music

Digital licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: https://github.com/pl-wnifc/humdrum-chopin-first-editions/blob/95dfb105c1669c72d10b04088566154f12d3dc1c/kern/038-1-BH.krn

Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

The other lesson pieces of Licentiate

Prelude and Fugue in C-sharp minor, BWV 849 — complete pair, Johann Sebastian Bach
Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor “Tempest”, Op. 31 No. 2: I. Largo – Allegro, Ludwig van Beethoven
Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23, Frédéric Chopin
Prelude and Fugue in E-flat minor / D-sharp minor, BWV 853 — complete pair, Johann Sebastian Bach
Rondo in A minor, K. 511, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Prelude and Fugue in B minor, BWV 869 — complete pair, Johann Sebastian Bach
Images, première série: Hommage à Rameau, L. 110 / CD 105, Claude Debussy
Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52, Frédéric Chopin
Rondo à la mazur in F major, Op. 5, Frédéric Chopin
Images, première série: Mouvement, L. 110 / CD 105, Claude Debussy
Étude in C-sharp minor, Op. 10 No. 4, Frédéric Chopin
Étude in D-flat major, Op. 25 No. 8, Frédéric Chopin
Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11: I. Allegro maestoso, Frédéric Chopin

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