{"id":4670,"date":"2023-04-24T10:56:16","date_gmt":"2023-04-24T14:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/?p=4670"},"modified":"2023-09-11T15:50:26","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11T19:50:26","slug":"arachnophonia-chopin-ballade-in-g-minor-op-23","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/2023\/04\/arachnophonia-chopin-ballade-in-g-minor-op-23\/","title":{"rendered":"Arachnophonia: Chopin – Ballade in G minor, op. 23"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note:<\/strong> Arachnophonia<\/a> (\u201cArachno\u201d = spider \/ \u201c-phonia\u201d = sound) is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library<\/a>\u2018s collection.<\/p>\n

All links included in these posts will take you to either the library catalog record for the item in question<\/a> or to additional relevant<\/a> information from<\/a> around the web<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s installment of Arachnophonia<\/a> is by student manager Xipeng (class of 2024) and features Chopin’s Ballade in G Minor, Op. 23<\/a>. Thanks, Xipeng!<\/em><\/p>\n

Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Chopin – Ballade No. 1 in g minor, op. 23<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Portrait

Portrait of Chopin by Louis Gallait (1843)<\/p><\/div>\n

The Op.23 Ballade<\/a> is undoubtedly one of Frederic Chopin\u2019s most representative works, and it was created between 1831 and 1835, during Chopin’s first few years in Paris. Completed in 1835 and published a year later it was followed by three more in this new genre: Op.38 Ballade in F Major, Op.47 Ballade in A-Flat Major, and Op.52 Ballade in F minor, published in succession till 1842. Discussion of the genre “ballade” is inevitable. It has been said that Chopin created a new genre in applying the titles of these pieces, at least for his own purposes.<\/p>\n

According to Edward Hirsch, the English “ballad” represents a narrative song, a poem that tells and preserves a story orally. There are several vital features Hirsh mentions regarding the ballad that are relevant to the interpretation of Op.23 Ballade\u2019s structure: an abrupt introduction, an emotionally intense refrain and overall a voice of an individual representing the community. In composing the Op.23 Ballade, Chopin was influenced by personal turbulence in midst of a turbulent social environment; thus, he expressed inner struggle and nostalgia, which, at the same time, also represented other Polish emigres’ grief and indignation and his own homesickness for the old country.<\/p>\n

As Robert Schumann<\/a> wrote in 1836: \u201cIt seems to me to be the work closest to his genius (though not the most brilliant). I even told him that it is my favorite of all of all his works. After a long, reflective pause he told me emphatically: ‘I am glad, because I too like it the best, it is my dearest work’\u201d. The g minor ballade<\/a> is unique being the representative of the public voice during the 1830s and the epitome of that specific era; meanwhile, it can still appeal to the audience’s sympathy and inspire imagination when performing in the 21st century. <\/p>\n

Our library has many<\/a> different<\/a> pianists<\/a>\u2019 recordings<\/a> of<\/a> Chopin\u2019s<\/a> Ballades<\/a>. Feel free to check out books\/scores\/CDs at the music library!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note: Arachnophonia (\u201cArachno\u201d = spider \/ \u201c-phonia\u201d = sound) is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library\u2018s collection. All links included in these … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2182,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[61217,15223],"tags":[61217,230861,230708,230709,227082,225967,61241,227079,15246,230710,206943],"class_list":["post-4670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arachnophonia","category-collection","tag-arachnophonia","tag-arachnophonia-22-23","tag-ballad","tag-ballade","tag-ballade-in-g-minor","tag-classical-piano","tag-frederic-chopin","tag-fryderyk-chopin","tag-piano","tag-piano-ballade","tag-xipeng"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgMV3E-1dk","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2182"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4670"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4674,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4670\/revisions\/4674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}