Franz Liszt
Ballades
About Franz Liszt's Ballades
Of Liszt’s two Ballades, the second is the more substantial, the more menacing and also the more popular. Its inspiration is supposed to have been Gottfried Bürgers Lenore, a spectral romance in which a ghostly rider, posing as Lenore’s dead lover, carries her away on a macabre night ride through an eerie landscape illuminated by flashes of lightning. It culminates in a revelation of the rider as Death himself—a skeleton with scythe and hourglass.
The earlier, first Ballade is a brighter work, clearly inspired by Chopin, who died in the year of its publication.
| Preview | Title | Key | Year | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Ballade 1 S . 170 | D-flat Major | 1848 | 8+ |
 |
Ballade 2 S . 171 | B Minor | 1853 | 8+ |
Forum posts about the Ballades by Franz Liszt
Favorite (and hardest) Ballades? (Not just Chopin) by liszt-and-the-galops
Who's ballades were best and who's were hardest? IMO: Hardest: Of the ones I've heard, Chopin's Best: Chopin's...
Recording of Liszts Ballads by Diabolos
Hi all, I'm looking for a good recording of Liszts Ballads; since the 2nd one does have three possible endings, I was wondering if anyone k...