Michael Ippolito (1985)

* Ballade (2011)

duration: 10:00

Ballade is a tone poem without a specific story. Like the lyrical and dramatic ballades by Chopin, Brahms and others, the music gives the definite impression of a narrative, but one that you can’t quite put your finger on. The work opens with a plaintive unaccompanied melody, which is answered by a series of refrains, always sinking lower and lower in pitch. The middle section is a wild scherzo in perpetual motion that builds to a dramatic return of the opening refrain.