Piano Edited by Jean-jacques Eigeldinger. This edition: Urtext. Urtext. Romantic Period. With introductory text, performance notes and critical commentary. Format: Collection / Songbook Critical Reports Difficulty: difficult A New critical Edition. Introductory essay: English/German/French. 68 pages.

The instrumental ballad was a popular musical form in the 19th century and these four pieces for piano are Brahms’s only contribution to the genre. The composer wrote the ballades during the time of his close friendship with Clara Schumann, and they exude an intimacy more typical of a vocal ballad. The pieces, which Schumann enthusiastically praised, were described by Brahms as being “not too difficult to play and even less difficult to understand.”

Editor: Otto von Irmer Fingering: Walther Lampe Pages: 58