After listening once again to Chopin's wonderful Ballads, I've done some searching on the internet. An informative article on Piano Ballads can be found on Wikipedia, see here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_ballad). It presents also an overview of some Ballads.
Some other Ballads I found in my CD collection are:
-Bortkiewicz, Ballade for piano in C Sharp minor, op. 42
-Draeseke, Ballad for piano and cello in B minor, op. 7
-Dreyschock, Ballad for piano in A major, op. 104
-Fontana, Ballad for piano, op. 17
-Henselt, Ballade for piano in B flat major, op. 31
-Jenner, 3 Ballads for piano (No.1 in E minor, No.2 in E flat minor, No.3 in F Sharp minor)
-Röntgen, Ballad for violin and orchestra; Ballad on a Norwegian Folk Song for orchestra
-Rozycki, Ballad for piano and orchestra, op. 18
-Tellefsen, Ballad for piano, op. 28
-Wieniawski (Jóseph), Ballad for piano in E flat minor, op. 31
I'm wondering if members know more Ballads by unsung composers, not only for the piano, but also for other ensembles, which are worth listening.
Jumping on my usual hobby-horse, there are two Ballads by Coleridge-Taylor: one for Violin and Orchestra in D minor op 4 and the second in C minor op 73 for Violin and Piano. The op 4 also exists in an arrangement by the composer for Violin and Piano and in this form it has been recorded by Michael Ludwig (vln) and Virginia Eskin (pno) for Koch International (still available as a download). The op 73 (a wonderful piece IMHO) is, of course, coupled with the Nash Ensemble's recording of SCT's Piano Quintet and Clarinet Quintet.
Oh, and SCT's Ballad in A minor op 33 for Orchestra, of course!
The Fauré Ballade for Piano and Orchestra is one of the most challenging concertante works for pianists in the repertoire.
Well, there are LOTS of them. Here's a sample from my collection. There are many more......
Theodore Dubois Ballade for violin and piano
Halfdan Cleve Ballade tragica for solo piano, opus 22
Eduard Caudella Dochia – Ballad for tenor and orch, (1905)
Ciprian Porembescu Ballad for violin and orchestra
Horatio Parker Northern Ballad
Otakar Ostrcil The Orphans Tale – ballad for soprano and orch, op 9
Viteslav Novak Four Ballads on Moravian Tunes for chorus & orch
Jose Viana de Mota Ballada – solo piano
Moritz Moszkowski Ballade for violin and orch, in g, opus 16 #1
Karl Loewe Herr Oluf – ballad for bass and piano
Anatoli Liadov Ballad for piano
Sigurd Lie Wartburg- ballad for baritone and orchestra
Jan Kunc Ballad for Alto & orch, Katherine on the Danube Bank
Rudolf Kattnig Exotische Hirton Balladen for piano and orchestra
Hans Huber Ballad and Romance for piano, opus 104 #4
Georg Haentzschel Amerika – ballad for piano and orchestra
Arthur Foote Ballad for violin and piano, opus 69
Granville Bantock Two Heroic Ballads
Arno Babadzanian Heroic Ballade for piano and orchestra
Jerry
Since a ballad is a form of poetry, I suggest we confine our lists to purely instrumental ballads (or ballades). It's easy to set a pre-existing vocal ballad to music and call it a ballad.
Quote from: JimL on Sunday 19 February 2012, 16:09
Since a ballad is a form of poetry, I suggest we confine our lists to purely instrumental ballads (or ballades). It's easy to set a pre-existing vocal ballad to music and call it a ballad.
And I suggest that we keep the thread as open as possible...
Well, did someone already mention Stanford's Ballade and Ballabile for Cello and Orchestra? If not, consider it done.
I've seen the term "ballad" (in various languages) used to title a lot of pieces. Even after reading assorted articles and definitions online, I just do not grasp the distinction between a ballad and a poem when describing an orchestral piece, with or without soloist.
Can someone enlighten me of the distinction?
Let's not get into a debate about definitions: let's stay with pieces of music that simply carry the title...
Who said anything about debating? But I don't want to hijack this thread, so I'll open a new thread instead.
I would list first three works I quite like:
-Germaine Tailleferre Ballade (piano and orch.)
-Charles Koechlin Ballade (piano and orch.)
-Henry Tomasi Ballade (saxopohone and orch.)
Further:
-Roy Harris American Ballads (piano)
-Frederic Rzewsky (North American Ballads (piano)
-Frank Martin various (tenor sax or trombone and orch.
Piano and Orch.
Cello and small orch.
Viola and ensemble
Alto sax and orch.
Flute and piano (or orch.)
Quote from: JimL on Sunday 19 February 2012, 15:15
The Fauré Ballade for Piano and Orchestra is one of the most challenging concertante works for pianists in the repertoire.
Wasn't this the one piece that confounded Liszt's sight-reading skills?
How about:
Tausig: "Ghost ship" Ballade
Liszt: 2 Ballades
If we start digging this is going to be an huge list - at least the question wasn't about Preludes or Etudes or we could be here for ever!
The Skazki sometimes called Ballades and the Sonate-Ballade op.27 and Concerto-Ballade op.60 of Nicolai Medtner all seem rather good to me (far as I know them...)
there's several Ballades, instrumental and Ballads vocal, I've seen scanned in online that I thought were particularly promising. I've mentioned Reinecke-pupil Oscar Weil's (@LoC and IMSLP) (op.17 in G minor and perhaps inspired by Chopin's in the same key...), and I am curious too about those of Liszt's pupil William Mason...
I have always had a soft spot for the Vianna da Motta Ballade ever since I first heard it on one of the Hyperion RPC releases.
My personal pianistic abilities are reasonably feeble, so I limit myself to the less difficult but melodic Ballads by Jaell, Heller, Wilm and Mayer and leave well alone the likes of Thalberg, Dohler, Bortz & Friedman.
Hats off to the chap who just recorded the Rangstrom as that is horridly difficult.
I expect the McBurney could be effective under the right fingers.
Thal
I believe Ernst called his Concert Pathétique Violin Concerto in F-sharp minor a "Concerto-Ballade".
Amy Beach, Ballade [pno], opus 6
Sergei Lyapunov, Ballade [orch], opus 2
No one has mentioned:
Atterberg - Ballade and Passacaglia [Orchestra]
Bozza - Ballade [Bass Clarinet (!) and Piano]
Debussy - Ballade Slave [Piano]
Dvorak - Ballade in d [Violin and Piano]
Gottschalk - Sixieme Ballade [Piano] (1-5 don't seem to have ever existed)
Gottschalk - Septieme Ballade [Piano]
Gottschalk - Huiteme Ballade [Piano]
Sibelius - King Christian II - Ballade [Orchestra]
Surprised at the Debussy omission at least...
OK - checking my catalogue, I have some more - including a few which may not really count as unsung! :)
ARNOLD: Ballade for Piano & Orchestra from 'Stolen Face'.
ATTERBERG: Ballad without words, Op.56 (1958). Ballade & Passacaglia, Op.38.
BARBER: Ballade for piano, Op.46
BAX: Northern Ballads
CONSTANTINESCU: Ballad of the Outlaw, for Cello and Orchestra
ENESCO: Ballade for Violin & Orchestra, Op.4a.
GROVEN: Ballad for Chorus & Orchestra
HADLEY: The Trees so High - symphonic ballad in A minor
IRELAND: Ballade (piano)
LYAPUNOV: Ballad for Orchestra, Op.2
LYATOSHINSKY: Grazhyna – ballade for orch., Op.58
McEWEN: Grey Galloway – symphonic ballad
McEWEN: Three Border Ballads
MILHAUD: Ballade for Piano & Orchestra, Op.61
MYASKOVSKY: Symphony-Ballad No.22 in B minor, Op.54
ROSELIUS: 'Lilofee-Suite', Norddeutsche Märchenmusik zu Manfred Hausmanns dramatischer Ballade für Orchester. Op.16 (1936)
RÓŻYCKI: Ballad for piano & orchestra, Op.2 (cf. Op.18)
SUCHON: Ballade (orch.)
TSVETANOV: Ballad about Botev's Kiss
WILLIAMS, Grace: Ballads for Orchestra
I do love the Hadley, by the way - anyone else have a soft spot for it?
Some further:
-Britten Ballad of H
Some Further:
Britten Ballad of Heroes (tenor -or soprano- chorus and orch.)
Britten Scottish Ballad (two pianos and orchestra)
Glazunov Concerto Ballata op. 108 (cello and orch.)
Janacek The Ballad of Blanik Hill (orch.): this last I heard also once in an actual concert, many years ago
If you go to www.violinconcerto.de (http://www.violinconcerto.de) and then to the search section, type in "ballad" and one will get 55 hits for Ballads for violin and orchestra from the 20th century...
Best,
Tobias
How could I forget Anton Rubinstein??? :-[
One of the Verschiedene Stücke op. 93 is the Ballad for two piano's. However, I don't think the piece has been recorded.
Quote from: semloh on Tuesday 21 February 2012, 06:48
OK - checking my catalogue, I have some more - including a few which may not really count as unsung! :)
ARNOLD: Ballade for Piano & Orchestra from 'Stolen Face'.
ATTERBERG: Ballad without words, Op.56 (1958). Ballade & Passacaglia, Op.38.
BARBER: Ballade for piano, Op.46
BAX: Northern Ballads
CONSTANTINESCU: Ballad of the Outlaw, for Cello and Orchestra
ENESCO: Ballade for Violin & Orchestra, Op.4a.
GROVEN: Ballad for Chorus & Orchestra
HADLEY: The Trees so High - symphonic ballad in A minor
IRELAND: Ballade (piano)
LYAPUNOV: Ballad for Orchestra, Op.2
LYATOSHINSKY: Grazhyna – ballade for orch., Op.58
McEWEN: Grey Galloway – symphonic ballad
McEWEN: Three Border Ballads
MILHAUD: Ballade for Piano & Orchestra, Op.61
MYASKOVSKY: Symphony-Ballad No.22 in B minor, Op.54
ROSELIUS: 'Lilofee-Suite', Norddeutsche Märchenmusik zu Manfred Hausmanns dramatischer Ballade für Orchester. Op.16 (1936)
RÓŻYCKI: Ballad for piano & orchestra, Op.2 (cf. Op.18)
SUCHON: Ballade (orch.)
TSVETANOV: Ballad about Botev's Kiss
WILLIAMS, Grace: Ballads for Orchestra
I do love the Hadley, by the way - anyone else have a soft spot for it?
Love the Haldye. Also the Bax Northern Ballad No.2, the Myaskovsky and the Constantinescu.