A ballade refers to a one-movement musical piece with lyrical and dramatic narrative qualities.

Medieval Ballades

The term "ballade" was used to describe one type of musical setting of French poetry common in the 14th and 15th centuries. One of the formes fixes, the ballade typically featured a prominent upper voice, which was texted, and two lower voices which may have been vocalised or performed with instruments. Guillaume de Machaut is the most famous composer of polyphonic ballades; the style continued to be popular among composers of the Ars Subtilior, though it fell out of fashion by the middle of the 15th century. Formes fixes (English: fixed forms) are French poetic forms of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries which were translated into musical forms, particularly the forms of songs. ... A vocalise is a vocal exercise (often one suitable for performance) without words, which is sung on one or more vowel sounds. ... Guillaume de Machaut (around 1300 – 1377), was a French composer and poet of the late Medieval era. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... Polyphony is a musical texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice (monophony) or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords (homophony). ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... Ars subtilior (more subtle art) is a musical style characterized by rhythmic and notational complexity, centered around Avignon in southern France, at the end of the fourteenth century (Hoppin 1978, p. ...

Romantic Ballades

Late 18th century Germans used the term "ballade" to describe folklike narrative poetry (following Johann Gottfried Herder), some of which was set to music by composers such as Johann Friedrich Reichart, Carl Friedrich Zeiter, and Johan Rudolf Zumsteeg. In the nineteenth century, Robert Schumann and Carl Loewe also composed ballades. Johann Gottfried Herder Johann Gottfried von Herder (August 25, 1744 – December 18, 1803), German poet, critic, theologian, and philosopher, is best known for his influence on authors such as Goethe and the role he played in the development of the larger cultural movement known as romanticism. ... Robert Schumann (June 8, 1810 – July 29, 1856) was a German composer and pianist. ... Johann Carl Gottfried Loewe (November 30, 1796 - April 20, 1869) was a German composer, baritone singer and conductor. ...

Instrumental Ballades

In the 19th century, the title was given by Frédéric Chopin to four important, large-scale piano pieces (opus numbers 23, 38, 47 and 52), the first significant application of the term to instrumental music. A number of other composers subsequently used the title for piano pieces, including Johannes Brahms (the third of his Klavierstücke opus 118, and the set of four opus 10), Edvard Grieg (opus 24, a set of variations), Franz Liszt (who wrote two) and Gabriel Fauré (opus 19, later arranged for piano and orchestra). Ballades for instruments other than the piano have also been written. Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... The only known photograph of Frédéric Chopin, taken by Louis-Auguste Bisson in 1849. ... A grand piano, with the lid up. ... Opus is a Latin word which means work (in the sense of a work of art). Some composers musical pieces are identified by opus numbers which generally run either in order of composition or in order of publication. ... Johannes Brahms. ... Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg (June 15, 1843 – September 4, 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist who composed in the romantic period. ... In music, variation is a formal technique where material is altered during repetition; reiteration with changes. ... Franz Liszt (Hungarian: Liszt Ferenc) (October 22, 1811 – July 31, 1886) was a Hungarian virtuoso pianist and composer. ... Gabriel Urbain Fauré (May 12, 1845 – November 4, 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist, and teacher. ...