Written at around the same time as the Bm Sonata (and sharing some marked similarities with it – key, use of thematic transformation, a quiet ending), Liszt’s second Ballade is one of his most important and moving works. It’s built around violent contrasts – the first theme is a kind of black, formless void, while the second is intimate and the third, waywardly melodic. There are three main climaxes (5:34, 9:25, 13:22), the first and last of which feature the first theme, but in radically different forms. The structure of this piece is hard to parse, but it’s essentially in 4 sections which can be loosely analogised to sonata form (but then, any ternary structure can be loosely analogised to sonata form). Across these four sections, the first theme recurs 7 times, growing in intensity each time (until it drops into B maj), while the second is constantly given a new colour whenever it reappears. The use of pure texture here (the opening chromatic line) as a structural feature which is independently developed is remarkable, and when it recurs in split-octave form to accompany the harmonised first theme the effect is pretty amazing (8:45). Similarly too the use of harmony and colour – the opening growl, the Mixolydian colour that slips into the second theme, the magisterial breadth of the climaxes.
Section 1 [“Exposition”]
00:00 – Theme 1 in B Aeolian. A desolate chant over chromatic rumbling & darkly syncopated pulses of vague harmony, climaxing at m.17 (0:39) in a G13(#11) chord. Irregular phrase lengths (6+4+4+3). The chromatic accompaniment becomes its own distinct motif (Motif A) and will receive textural development over the course of the work.
01:00 – Transition 1, with a mystic, Phrygian sound. The bass line uses the first four notes of the T1 melody (F#-G-A-B).
01:22 – Theme 2 in F#. A sharp contrast to T1. Tender and a little yearning, comprised of chords in open voicings.
02:07 – T1/transition 1/T2 repeated a semitone lower(!), almost like an exposition repeat.
Section 2 [“Development”]
04:12 – A march is introduced, integrating a scale and repeated chord motif (Motif B).
04:42 – Transition 2, employing a grating C# pedal
05:09 – Motif A is developed in the RH by being expanded into a split-octave line, while the LH plays (though it’s very hard to hear this) an inverted, chromaticised version of the T1 melody. At m.105 the hands switch roles
05:34 – T1 returns in F# min, in epic form. The first climax of the work.
06:07 – Transition 3, using a tritone substitution at m.134 (6:22) to get to
06:27 – Theme 3, in D. This short, beautiful theme only recurs twice more, always functioning to destabilize whatever tonal centre came before it. It manages to deploy some really striking harmonies while sounding completely natural (the shift from Gmin to A9 from mm.140/1, with the melodic Bb turning into an appoggiatura resolving into B). The turns in this theme into a sort of aural echo of the turn in T2 (m.32, 1:52).
07:01 – T2 in D/G (Mixolydian). Now with closed voicings, giving a more hushed sound, over a D/A ostinato. The use of the C natural gives T2 a bit of warm/dark Mixo sound. T2 moves into G, then abruptly into Eb (with b6 colour/Phrygian dominant sound), which sets up
08:10 – T1 in G# min. Now mf, missing its syncopated chords, and with fuller harmony.
08:37 – Short transition, employing Motif A.
08:45 – T1 in C min, in full chords, now sweeping.
09:09 – Motif A is developed texturally, morphing into a precipitous downward cascade of alternating octaves. This leads to
09:25 – Climax 2. A macabre recollection of the march from 4:12, built around Motif B.
09:42 – A return of Transition 3.
10:17 – T3, in B. Remarkably, the downward run starting on m.230 (10:41) is an elaboration of the LH recitative line at m.18 (0:43).
10:54 – T2, in B (Mixolydian). A new colour, with the chords lower down and alternating hands (the trick is to play these chords so that you can hear the hand-switching), while bells sound in the bass. Wanders into Eb and back to B.
Section 3 [“Recapitulation”]
12:01 – T1, in B. The emotional centre of the work. Not just because T1 is really transformed here for the first time, with full harmony and 4+4 phrases (as opposed to the previous variations, which only intensified it), but because this is the first time in the work any theme takes on a really different character. From this moment on, T1 will only be heard in this luminous variant (call it T1*).
12:28 – T1*, Var.1
12:51 – The final return of T3 in F#, now ecstatic and spanning a much wider range on the keyboard. The tail is lengthened with a long melodic descent that leads into a F# pentatonic octave storm (13:16).
13:22 – T1*, Var.2. This variation and the next constitute the last, glorious climax of the work. The polar counterpart to 5:34.
13:47 – T1*, Var. 3.
Section 4 [Coda]
14:15 – T.2, beginning a long decrescendo/diminuendo over an F# pedal.
14:52 – A slow statement of T.2 (note the link with T.3) closes.