As with the Ballades No. 3 and No. 4, the Ballade No. 2 is written in compound duple
(6/8) time. It opens quietly on the dominant of the F major key, with repeated Cs
in both the left and right hands. This quickly progresses to a melody and development
with the performance instruction sotto voce - literally "under the voice", or "quietly".
This section fades out with several repeated As in the right hand. The next section
of the ballade, in stark contrast to the first, opens with the performance instruction
Presto con fuoco literally very fast with fire. It is in an unusual key for
a secondary melody; instead of being in the relative minor of F major, it is instead
in A minor. Chopin scholar and biographer Frederick Niecks writes of it, The entrance
of the presto... seems out of keeping with what precedes; but what we hear after...
justifies the presence of the presto.The piece shortly returns to its original
tempo and style, and the first melody is further elaborated on. Here, Chopin incorporates
variations on the melody not present in the initial expository stage of the piece.
This development progresses until the Presto con fuoco theme is naturally reintroduced
and recapitulated. This time, it is elaborated on as well, and ends abruptly, with
a prolonged rest, until the theme is echoed once more and the piece fades out. The
original F major theme is echoed, but here in A minor, the key of the Presto; it
is thus that the piece ends, without returning to its tonic key.
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