Review
These four works operate as a set and should be played that way. Even though the first Ballade has an inscription that it is based on Herder's translation of the Scottish ballad
Edward , no one has found proof that the other three are linked to this story in any way. Whether there was an underlying literary connection in Brahms' mind hardly matters though, as the four Ballades are linked into a dramatic narrative in so compelling a manner that some commentators consider this an unlabeled sonata. Stylistically it is rather more advanced than the earlier sonatas, and anticipates the First Piano Concerto. The first Ballade, Andante, in D minor, opens with a slow and grim march, which is followed by a bold and dramatic central Allegro and concludes with a variation of the opening. The second Ballade, Andante, in D major, is structured much the same way. The opening though, is lyrical while the central episode is substantially longer and more varied than in the first Ballade. Brahms labeled the third Ballade in B minor Intermezzo. The three-part plan is reversed, with the faster music surrounding a slower central section. The tone of this scherzo-like piece is fantastic and lugubrious, but in spite of this, it seems to bridge the gap emotionally between the heroic and epic tone of the first two Ballades to the lyrical and wistful final Ballade. This concluding piece in B major is more complex structurally than its predecessors, although the principal tone is lyrical rather than dramatic. The entire set is an early masterpiece, entirely original and effective. ~ Steven Coburn, All Music Guide
Albums with Complete Performances of the Work
Alexander Shtarkman Plays Brahms, Liszt, Busoni 1996
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli 2 1999
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Live in Lugano 1981 2000
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli [Box Set]
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli in Recital
Awadagin Pratt: A Long Way From Normal 1994
Ballades: Brahms, Chopin
Beethoven: Sonate, Op. 2 No. 3; Brahms: Quattro Ballate; Chopin: Andante Spianato e Grande Polonaise
Benedetti Michelangeli plays Brahms 1999
Brahms 2003
Brahms Complete Edition/Various (Ltd) (Box)
Brahms, Chopin: Ballades 1997
Brahms: 10 Intermezzi for Piano; 4 Ballades 2002
Brahms: 3 Sonaten; Scherzo; 4 Balladen
Brahms: 4 Balladen Op. 10; 2 Rhapsodien Op. 79; 7 Fantasien Op. 116
Brahms: 4 Balladen Op. 10; Schubert: Sonate D 537; Beethoven: Sonate Op. 7 1999
Brahms: 4 Ballades, Op. 10; 2 Rhapsodies, Op. 79; 10 Intermezzi 1992
Brahms: 4 Ballades; Intermezzos; Schumann: Piano Sonata No. 2; Schubert: Piano Sonata D566 2001
Brahms: Balladen, Op. 10; Intermezzi, Op. 117; Klavierstücke, Op. 118 2005
Brahms: Balladen/Klavierstücke & Intermezzi
Brahms: Balladen; Schubert: Klaviersonate
Brahms: Ballades & Variations 1988
Brahms: Ballades Op10
Brahms: Ballades Op10; Intermezzi Op117
Brahms: Ballades Op10; Pieces Op76
Brahms: Ballades, Op. 10; Sonata No. 3, Op. 5 2002
Brahms: Ballades, Op. 10; Variations, Op. 21/1; Variations, Op. 24 1995
Brahms: Ballades, Op. 10; Weber: Sonata in A flat, Op. 39 1991
Brahms: Ballades; Rhapsodies 2007
Brahms: Complete Piano Music 1992
Brahms: Complete Piano Music [Box Set] 2005
Brahms: Concerto pour piano no. 2; Ballades 2005
Brahms: Das Gesamtwerk für Klavier [Box Set] 1990
Brahms: Early Piano Works, Vol. 1 2008
Brahms: Early Piano Works, Vol. 1 [Hybrid SACD] 2008
Brahms: Handel Variations 1997
Brahms: Handel Variations; Ballades, Op. 10; Rhapsodies, Op. 79 1993
Brahms: Klavierkonzert Nr. 1; 4 Balladen, Op. 10
Brahms: Klavierstucke
Brahms: Klavierstücke I
Brahms: Klavierstücke, Vol. 1
Brahms: Klavierwerke [Box Set] 1983
Brahms: Masterpieces for Solo Piano 2004
Brahms: Paganini Variations; 2 Rhapsodies, Op. 79; 4 Ballades, Op. 10 2006
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1/Ballades 1996
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1; Ballades, Op. 10 2001
Brahms: Piano Quartet, Op. 75; Balladen, Op. 10 1995
Brahms: Piano Sonata No. 1/Ballades, Op. 10
Brahms: Piano Sonata No. 3; Ballades, Op. 10 1992
Brahms: Piano Sonata Op. 2; Schumann Variations Op. 9; 4 Ballades Op. 10 1998
Brahms: Piano Sonata, Op. 5 / Four Ballades, Op. 10
Brahms: Piano Sonata, Op. 5; Ballades, Op. 10 2001
Brahms: Piano Works 1997
Brahms: Piano Works (Box Set)
Brahms: Piano Works, Opp. 10, 21/1, 21/2, 118 1990
Brahms: Pieces Op118; Pieces Op119
Brahms: Scherzo Op. 4; Ballades Op. 10; Intermezzi Op. 117; Klavierstücke Op. 119
Brahms: Sonata No. 1; Four Ballads; Handel Variations 1991
Brahms: Sonata No. 3, Op. 3; Variations, Op. 9; Vier Balladen, Op. 10 2007
Brahms: Sonata Op. 5; Ballades, Op. 10
Brahms: Sonata in F minor; Ballades, Op. 10 2006
Brahms: The 2 Piano Concertos
Brahms: The Complete Solo Piano Music and the Piano Concertos [Box Set] 2001
Brahms: The Masterworks (Box Set)
Brahms: Vier Balladen/Sonata in F minor 1994
Brahms: Works for Solo Piano
Brahms: Works for Solo Piano [Box Set] 1990
Carl Maria von Weber: Sonata No. 2; Brahms: Ballades Op. 10; Fantasies Op. 116
Complete 1950s Solo Recordings [Box Set] 2003
Daniel Barenboim the Pianist [Box Set]
Earl Wild Plays Brahms 1993
Earl Wild Plays Brahms & Liszt 1999
Emil Gilels, Live in Moscow, Vol. 4 [DVD Video] 2008
Glenn Gould Plays Everything But Bach 2009
Great Pianists of the 20th Century: The Complete Edition (Box 2) (Box Set) 1999
Great Pianists of the 20th Century: The Complete Edition (Box 2) (Box Set) 1999
Grigory Sokolov: Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms [Box Set] 2005
Historic Russian Archives Emil Gilels Edition [Box Set]
Historic Russian Archives Emil Gilels Edition: Johannes Brahms, Carl Maria von Weber
Hommage à Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (Box Set) 2000
Hommage à Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (Box Set) 2000
Hommage, Vol. 14 2000
Hommage, Vol. 9 2000
Johannes Brahms: Ballades Op. 10/Variations Sur Un Theme De Schumann, Op. 9/Sonate, Op. 5 1991
Johannes Brahms: Ballades; Rhapsodies; Klavierstücke Op. 76
Johannes Brahms: Complete Works [Includes CD-ROM] [Box Set]
Johannes Brahms: Klavierwerke, Volume 4 (Opp. 24, 10 & 117) 1995
Johannes Brahms: Piano Works [Box Set] 2005
Legendary Recordings: The Originals From the Deutsche Grammophon Catalogue 1995
Masters of the Keyboard: The Next Generation, Vol. 2 2002
Mozart: Sonata in B flat, K. 333; Brahms: Four Ballads, Op. 10 2008
Oeuvres pour Piano Vol.1
Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition Of Belgium 1951-2001 (Box Set)
Queen Elizabeth Music Competition Vol. 8
Rachmaninov, Brahms and Schumann 1996
Recital 2005
Roberto Giordano, Piano 2004
Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 63 1999
Schumann & His Friends
Solzhenitsyn Plays Brahms 2009
The Art Of Alfred Brendel 1996
The Art of Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli [Box Set]
The Art of Earl Wild 2006
The Early Brahms 2005
The Rubinstein Collection (Limited Edition) [Box Set] 1999
The Seven Wonders (Box Set)
Walter Klien plays Brahms
Wilhelm Backhaus Plays Brahms
Wilhelm Kempff 1 1998
Wilhelm Kempff Plays Brahms 1992
Works for Piano [Box Set] 2005
Albums with Excerpt Performances of the Work
