Frédéric Chopin's four ballades are single-movement pieces for solo piano, composed between 1831 and 1842. They are considered to be some of the most challenging pieces in the standard piano repertoire.

 

   The term ballade was used by Chopin in the sense of a balletic interlude or dance-piece, equivalent to the old Italian ballata, but the term may also have connotations of the medieval heroic ballad, a narrative minstrel-song, often of a fantastical character. There are dramatic and dance-like elements in Chopin's use of the genre, and he may be said to be a pioneer of the ballade as an abstract musical form.

 

   Ballade No. 3 in A♭ major, Op. 47, dating from 1841, is dedicated to Pauline de Noailles.[1] The inspiration for this Ballade is usually claimed to be Adam Mickiewicz's poem Undine,[2] also known as switezianka.

 

   The form of this Ballade is an arch: ABCBA coda. The first A theme is in two parts; the first part is song-like and the second is dance-like. Out of the four ballades, the third Ballade has the tightest structure. This Ballade also uses development procedures that are successful at heightening the tension.