Ballade No. 3 in A-flat major
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| Ballade No. 3 | |
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| Composition by Frédéric Chopin | |
| Form: | Ballade |
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| Key/Time signature: | A-flat major, 6/8 |
| Tempo | Allegretto |
| Date of composition: | 1841 |
| Composition number: | Op. 47 |
| Dedication: | Pauline de Noailles |
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The Ballade No. 3 in Ab Major is Chopin's third ballade from 1841. The ballade ranges from 6:00 to almost 8:00. The long ending is typical of Romantic music, though the last ending is rather short, containing the chords C Major, f minor, E♭7, and A-flat major.
Chopin was in many of his works insipred by Mickiewicz and so was he when he wrote this ballade. It was written according to ballade about a water nymph who wants to make sure that her dear loves only her and so she changes her appearance and tries to seduce him. He follows her to the water where she drowns him. Chopin, in contrast to Mickiewicz, did not let her drown him and therefore this is probably the only 19th century-ballade with happy ending.
This ballade can be divided to three parts:
In the first section (bars 1 to 51) there is a dialogue between the two people assuring each other about their love. The first two bars represent the question of the girl, urgency of this question is strengthened by the fact, that the first tone is on dominant. The answer comes in left hand in bars 3 and 4 and begins on dominant as well. From bar 9 there are obvious doubts of the girl because she is not convinced about his love and she is thinking about the examination for the first time. Therefore it is far more dramatic and octaves in the right hand foretell the dance rhythm in the second part (mainly the beginnig of the theme in bars 52 and 53). In bar 26 begins their parting.
The second part shows the dance of the nymph and her tempting of her dear. The main theme of this part returns several times in different keys. At the end of this part (bar 212 and before) he yields to this temptation and here comes the third part (coda).
Here Chopin's story differs from the Mickiewicz's poem. Chopin does not like the idea of drowning the man because he may have identified his love in the dancing nymph and he also wanted to show us a moral lesson. By this fairy tale story he says that excessive distrust only assists us to sucumb to temptations. In bar 213 returns the main theme from the first part in much more complicated chords. In bar 231 comes one of the themes of the second part (bar 116).
[edit] External Links
| No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23 • No. 2 in F major, Op. 38 • No. 3 in A-flat major, Op. 47 • No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52 | |
| List of compositions by Frédéric Chopin |
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