Ballade for Piano and Orchestra in the First Half of the 20th Century: Stylistic and Form-building elements

Abstract

This article presents a comparative analysis of creative solutions within the genre of ballades for piano and orchestra in works created by local and foreign composers in the first half of the 20th century, such as L. Różycki, G. Tailleferre, B. Britten, N. Medtner, and I. Shamo. It has been determined that most works are characterised by purposeful inspiration which influenced their style. The basis of the genre lies in the synthesis of various features of the folk ballad and the poetic piano concerto. The first component combines epic song features, parts of folk songs or their arrangements, and declamatory melodies. The second one can be noticed in the different types of cooperation between the soloist (or soloists) and the orchestra, in the combination of features characteristic for single-part and cyclic forms (suite, rhapsody or different types of cyclic sonatas), and in the logic behind juxtaposing contrasting genre features or the figurative transformation of monothematic variants.