with graver and more passionate emotions.
Those broken octaves which usher in each time the second theme, with
its fascinating, infectious, rhythmical lilt, what an ironically joyous
fillip they give the imagination!

"A coquettish grace--if we accept by this expression that half
unconscious toying with the power that charms and fires, that follows
up confession with reluctance--seems the very essence of Chopin's
being."

"It becomes a difficult task to transcribe the easy transitions, full
of an irresistible charm, with which he portrays Love's game. Who will
not recall the memorable passage in the A flat Ballade, where the right
hand alone takes up the dotted eighths after the sustained chord of the
sixth of A flat? Could a lover's confusion be more deliciously enhanced
by silence and hesitation?" Ehlert above evidently sees a ballroom
picture of brilliancy, with the regulation tender avowal. The episodes
of this Ballade are so attenuated of any grosser elements that none but
psychical meanings should be read into them.

The disputed passage is on the fifth page of the Kullak edition, after
the trills. A measure is missing in Kullak, who, like Klindworth, gives
it in a footnote. To my mind this repetition adds emphasis, although it
is a formal blur. And what an irresistible moment it is, this
delightful territory, before the darker mood of the C sharp minor part
is reached! Niecks becomes enthusiastic over the insinuation and
persuasion of this composition: "the composer showing himself in a
fundamentally caressing mood." The ease with which the entire work is
floated proves that Chopin in mental health was not daunted by larger
forms. There is moonlight in this music, and some sunlight, too. The
prevailing moods are coquetry and sweet contentment.

Contrapuntal skill is shown in the working out section. Chopin always
wears his learning lightly; it does not oppress us. The inverted
dominant pedal in the C sharp minor episode reveals, with the massive
coda, a great master. Kullak suggests some variants. He uses the
transient shake in the third bar, instead of the appoggiatura which
Klindworth prefers. Klindworth attacks the trill on the second page
with the upper tone--A flat. Kullak and Mertke, in the Steingraber
edition, play the passage in this manner:

[Musical score excerpt from the original version of the Op. 47. Ballade]

Here is Klindworth:

[Musical score excerpt of the same passage in Klindworth's ed