About this work:
This is an improved version of the 1983 "Ballad" listed in my Compositions.
It is the second in a set of ten piano pieces first posted in the last quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009. This 2011 version has numerous small improvements to the score, the playback, and a few in the music itself. There are more and better fingering numbers and pedal markings. And now the recording (posted 09/28/12), having been made using a Yamaha AvantGrand N2 digital piano recorded onto my computer via audio cable, has much-improved sound quality.
“Ballad” has very appealing and memorable melody. It is “pianistic” — well-suited to the piano but requiring some interpretive skill for best results.
The recording is that of the computer playback of the score, thus the “performance” is rather mechanical. All of the pieces in the set sound better when played well, with human feeling and interpretation, by a live performer — the more complex the piece, the more so.
The indicated duration (2 minutes, 29 seconds) is that of the computer playback.
———————————————————————
The titles of the pieces in the set are:
1. Mazurka March
2. Ballad
3. First Love, in May
4. Hispanic Rhapsody (Excerpt)
5. Hymn of Consolation
6. Nocturne
7. Spanish Sonatina
8. Variations on a Game
9. Venetian Cadence
10. Rondo Refrain (designed for improvisation between the “refrain” sections)
If the pieces are all played on one occasion, I recommend that they be played in the given order.
To help the pianist interpret the pieces, performance recommendations and options are placed in boxes on each of the scores.