Chopin's Polish Ballade: Op. 38 as Narrative of National Martyrdom

by Jonathan D. Bellman

Overview

Chopin's Polish Ballade examines the Second Ballade, Op. 38, and how that work gave voice to the Polish cultural preoccupations of the 1830s, using musical conventions from French opera and amateur piano music. This approach provides answers to several persistent questions about the work's form, programmatic content, and poetic inspiration.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199887606
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	10/26/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	9 MB

About the Author

Jonathan D. Bellman, a pianist and musicologist, earned his doctorate at Stanford University and is now Professor and Head of Academic Studies in Music at the University of Northern Colorado. He has published articles in a variety of musicology journals. His primary research interests include nineteenth-century musical style and performance practices, especially involving Frederic Chopin and musical exoticism.

Table of Contents

List of Musical ExamplesIntroduction1. Two Versions, Two Keys, and Certain Poems of MickiewiczTwo VersionsTwo Keys"Certain Poems of Mickiewicz"2. Genesis of a Narrative ProcessStories in TonesAmateur Program MusicBallad Poetry and Musical Form3. Hearing Konrad Wallenrod: Chopin's Ballade No. 1, Op. 23Overview and Stylistic Summary of the First BalladeKonrad Wallenrod: Plot and StructureKonrad Wallenrod as Ballade ScenarioiThe Lay of Aldona's Fate/i4. Op. 38 and the Genre IssueA Formal Overview of Chopin's Second BalladeThe Second Ballade and the Sonata ProblemBallade as GenreThe Operatic Ballade to 18315. The Polish Pilgrims and the Operatic ImperativeA Pilgrims' Ballade; A Polish BalladeThe Great Migration and Polish Culture in ExilePersonal Anguish and Literary ApotheosisiSapienti Pauca/i6. Martyrdom and Exile: The Narrative of Chopin's F Major BalladeInternal Evidence I-The A Material: SicilianoInternal Evidence II-The B Material: StormInternal Evidence III-The C ThemeOp. 38 as Narrative of National MartyrdomVersions, Tonic Keys, and Mickiewicz RevisitedThe Forest and the TreesAppendix: "À M. F. Chopin, sur sa Ballade Polonaise," by Félicien Mallefille.BibliographyIndex

Editorial Reviews

"A solid study. Recommended." —Choice

"Ingenious, entertaining, and convincing - Jonathan Bellman's book deftly demonstrates how the study of a single piece of music can open a new window onto an entire cultural world."—Kenneth Hamilton, author of After the Golden Age: Romantic Pianism and Modern Performance

"Chopin's Polish Ballade is a highly original and much needed contribution to the literature on Chopin. Jonathan Bellman is the perfect author for the first book-length analysis of second Ballade, as he brings to the project the instincts of a practiced historian of music and a seasoned performer. This is a book that will appeal to musicologists, to performers, and to amateur pianists and music-lovers."—Jeffrey Kallberg, Professor and Chair, Department of Music, University of Pennsylvania and author of Chopin at the Boundaries: Sex, History, and Musical Genre

"Highly recommendable to performers and music students alike, and more especially to anyone who still underestimates Chopin." —Classical Music Magazine

"An intriguing contribution to a fresh look at the composer and his music...Although never "dumbed down," this volume is highly readable, even compelling." —Clavier Companion

"By synthesizing, building on, and complicating existing scholarship on the Chopin ballades, Bellman has, with thoroughness, sophistication, and analytic verve, gone far to complete the expressive picture that Chopin indicates in his Second Ballade." —Notes

"An interesting, albeit controversial, interpretation of Chopin's Op. 38 Ballade as a tale of the martyrdom of the Polish nation...This book is important for our understanding of the work's reception in the Parisian milieu...The author helps us to understand why it was seen as Polish and national. The polyvalence of instrumental music admits various interpretations,
yet listeners choose the reading which they most desire and expect." —Fontes Artis Musicae

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