the body, harmoniously broken, has no longer
any other wish than rest, and when, the soul, seeing all the
doors of its prison open, goes wherever it lists, but always
towards the Blue, into the dream-land.

None of Chopin's compositions surpass in masterliness of form and beauty
and poetry of contents his ballades. In them he attains, I think, the
acme of his power as an artist. It is much to be regretted that they
are only four in number--Op. 23, published in June, 1836; Op. 38, in
September, 1840; Op. 47, in November, 1841; and Op 52, in December,
1843. When Schumann reviewed the second ballade he wrote: "Chopin has
already written a piece under the same title, one of his wildest and
most individual compositions." Schumann relates also that the poems of
Mickiewicz incited Chopin to write his ballades, which information he
got from the Polish composer himself. He adds significantly: "A poet,
again, might easily write words to them [Chopin's ballades]. They move
the innermost depth of the soul." Indeed, the "Ballade" (in G minor),
Op. 23, is all over quivering with intensest feeling, full of sighs,
sobs, groans, and passionate ebullitions. The seven introductory bars
(Lento) begin firm, ponderous, and loud, but gradually become looser,
lighter, and softer, terminating with a dissonant chord, which some
editors have thought fit to correct. [FOOTNOTE: For the correctness of
the suspected note we have the testimony of pupils--Gutmann, Mikuli,
&c.] Yet this dissonant E flat may be said to be the emotional key-note
of the whole poem. It is a questioning thought that, like a sudden pain,
shoots through mind and body. And now the story-teller begins his simple
but pathetic tale, heaving every now and then a sigh. After the ritenuto
the matter becomes more affecting; the sighs and groans, yet for a while
kept under restraint, grow louder with the increasing agitation, till at
last the whole being is moved to its very depths. On the uproar of the
passions follows a delicious calm that descends like a heavenly vision
(meno mosso, E flat major). But this does not last, and before long
there comes, in the train of the first theme, an outburst of passion
with mighty upheavings and fearful lulls that presage new eruptions.
Thus the ballade rises and falls on the sea of passion till a mad,
reckless rush (presto con fuoco) brings it to a conclusion. Schumann
tells us a rather interesting fact in his notice of the "Deuxieme
Balla