Ballade No. 3, Op. 47

1. 0:00
   Opening theme in A♭ major

   The piano opens in A♭ major, marked dolce. Short phrases alternate between registers of the keyboard. The theme returns near the end, doubled in octaves across the full range of the piano.

2. 1:45
   Nohant, summer 1841

   Chopin wrote the Third Ballade in the summer of 1841, under George Sand’s roof at Nohant. The F-minor Fantasy and the two Nocturnes, Op. 48 date from the same summer.

3. 2:08
   Second theme over repeated Cs

   The right hand moves back and forth between Cs an octave apart, marked mezza voce (half voice). A new melody grows out of this figure, with its accents placed between the strong beats.

4. 2:50
   Mickiewicz’s Świtezianka

   In 1841 Schumann wrote that Chopin had told him certain poems of Mickiewicz suggested his ballades. Tradition links the Third Ballade with Mickiewicz’s Świtezianka, about a water nymph and a hunter who breaks his oath of faithfulness. Nothing Chopin said ties the poem to this piece.

5. 3:30
   Dedication to Pauline de Noailles

   The dedication names Pauline de Noailles, one of Chopin’s pupils. She turned eighteen in the year he wrote this Ballade, and died in 1844, three years later.

6. 4:04
   Third theme, leggiero semiquavers

   A third idea enters in right-hand semiquavers, marked leggiero, back in A♭ major. The semiquaver runs carry their own melody, which returns once more in the closing bars.

7. 5:06
   Development in C♯ minor

   The rocking idea returns on A♭ and then moves into C♯ minor, where the same piano key is written as G♯. The left hand plays chromatic runs beneath large chords in the right hand.

8. 6:18
   Return of the opening theme

   A♭ major returns, and the opening melody comes back in octaves, with fuller chords and support from the bass.

9. 7:06
   Closing bars in A♭ major

   The leggiero A♭ major runs return for a last flourish, followed by a right-hand arpeggio. Four chords end the Ballade. Of Chopin’s four ballades, this is the only one to finish in a major key.

Joins

1. 2:08
   Repeated Cs lead to the second theme

   The A♭ major opening section closes. The right hand then alternates between Cs in two octaves, marked mezza voce. These repeated notes lead into the second theme, which has off-beat accents against the regular six-quaver bar.

2. 4:04
   Right-hand runs in A♭ major

   The rocking theme leads to a new idea in A♭ major, played by the right hand in semiquavers marked leggiero. The short repeated-note figures are replaced by continuous runs above the left-hand accompaniment.

3. 5:06
   A♭ becomes G♯

   The broken-octave figure returns on A♭. A change of key signature turns that note into G♯, the dominant of C♯ minor. The second theme grows into large right-hand chords, and the left hand takes up rapid chromatic runs.

4. 6:18
   Return of the opening in A♭ major

   The chromatic left-hand runs widen beyond the octave, and the dynamic rises from piano to forte. The key signature changes back to A♭ major, and the opening melody returns in octaves over a heavier bass.

5. 7:06
   Return of the leggiero runs

   The opening theme’s octave statement leads to the A♭ major leggiero runs. The right hand plays the third idea again, then an arpeggio, and joins the left hand for four closing chords.