That Chopin had
a programme, a definite one, there can be no doubt; but he has,
wise artist, left us no clue beyond Mickiewicz's, the Polish bard
Lithuanian poems. In Leipzig, Karasowski relates, that when
Schumann met Chopin, the pianist confessed having "been incited
to the creation of the ballades by the poetry" of his fellow
countryman. The true narrative tone is in this symmetrically
constructed Ballade, the most spirited, most daring work of
Chopin, according to Schumann. Louis Ehlert says of the four
Ballades: "Each one differs entirely from the others, and they
have but one thing in common--their romantic working out and the
nobility of their motives. Chopin relates in them, not like one
who communicates something really experienced; it is as though he
told what never took place, but what has sprung up in his inmost
soul, the anticipation of something longed for. They may contain
a strong element of national woe, much outwardly expressed and
inwardly burning rage over the sufferings of his native land; yet
they do not carry with a positive reality like that which in a
Beethoven Sonata will often call words to our lips.
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