Ballade (25 Etudes faciles, Op. 100, No. 15)

Learn this piece

Composer

Johann Friedrich Franz Burgmüller

Level

Advanced

Key

C minor, C major, C minor

Metre

3/8

Tempo

104 BPM

Length

96 bars, about 2 minutes

Hands

both

Trains

A dramatic ballad in C minor: the tune in the left hand under light staccato chords in the right, then a singing middle part in C major, and the opening's drama again. Crisp staccato, strong accents, a wide dynamic range.

How to practise it

• In bars 3-10 the tune is in your left hand, under the right hand's staccato chords. Practise the left hand alone first, then keep the chords short and light so the tune comes through.
• In bars 24-27 the falling notes pass from your right hand to your left. Play them forte and staccato, and listen that they sound like one line going down.
• From bar 31 the music turns to C major and gets calm. Let the right hand's long notes sing, and play the left hand's chords after each rest softly.
• Bars 87-90 put both hands on the same 16th figure, an octave apart. Loop them at 60 BPM until the two hands sound as one.

Where this score came from

Licence: Public domain

https://www.mutopiaproject.org/cgibin/piece-info.cgi?id=227

Credit: Typeset by Bas Wassink for the Mutopia Project (Mutopia-2013/01/12-227) from the Collection Litolff (19th century), and placed in the public domain by the typesetter.

More at this level

• La Candeur (25 Etudes faciles, Op. 100, No. 1) Johann Friedrich Franz Burgmüller
• l'Arabesque (25 Etudes faciles, Op. 100, No. 2) Johann Friedrich Franz Burgmüller
• Prelude in C minor, Op. 28 No. 20 Frédéric Chopin
• Prelude in E minor, Op. 28 No. 4 ("Largo") Frédéric Chopin
• Prelude in B minor, Op. 28 No. 6 Frédéric Chopin