Ballade (musical form) facts for kids

A ballade in music is a special kind of music piece. It's usually written for the piano. Imagine a musical story without words! That's often what a ballade feels like. It has different tunes that flow together, making you think of a journey or an adventure. The name "ballade" comes from old French songs from the Middle Ages that told stories.

What is a Musical Ballade?

A musical ballade is a piece of music that often feels like it's telling a story. It usually has a few main tunes, or themes, that change and develop throughout the piece. While it doesn't have words, the music itself creates different moods and pictures in your mind. Most ballades are written for a solo instrument, especially the piano.

Frédéric Chopin: The Ballade Pioneer

The very first composer to use the title "ballade" for his piano pieces was Frédéric Chopin. He was a famous Polish composer who lived in the 1800s. Chopin wrote four amazing ballades for the piano.

Chopin's ballades are very special because they don't follow a strict, old-fashioned musical form. They are quite free, almost like a musical poem. Chopin never told anyone what specific stories his ballades were about. He probably wanted listeners to imagine their own stories as they listened. These four pieces are considered some of his best and most beautiful works.

Other Famous Ballades

After Chopin, many other composers were inspired to write their own ballades.

• Franz Liszt and César Franck also wrote important ballades for the piano.
• Johannes Brahms wrote ballades for piano that sound a bit like songs.
• The Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg wrote a famous ballade. It was based on a traditional Norwegian folk song.

Ballades for Orchestra

While most ballades are for piano, some composers wrote them for other instruments or even for a whole orchestra. For example, Gabriel Fauré wrote a ballade for piano and orchestra. This means a solo piano plays along with a full orchestra. Some orchestral ballades are like short symphonic poems. A symphonic poem is a piece of orchestral music that tells a story or describes something.