“Chopin was probably the first to apply the word ‘ballade’ to music”, Robert Schumann once wrote. He and his contemporaries were only familiar with the term “ballad” as a literary generic concept. Poems by Chopin’s compatriot Adam Mickiewicz are said to have inspired the composer’s ballades, although there is no concrete evidence to support this.

However, the dramatic narrative gesture of the literary ballad can clearly be seen in this new genre, as in Ballade no. 3 op. 47 which is now availa...