Скачать или смотреть John Ireland, Ballade played by Julian Hellaby (paulprocopolis)

Ballade - John Ireland (1879 - 1962)

Julian Hellaby (piano)

This work was written in 1929 during a time of great inner turbulence for the composer after the dissolution of his disastrous marriage. The earlier stages of the piece are portentously grim, often recalling Ireland's typical 'love' motives - but here they are distorted and harmonically smeared. The middle section features a relentless ostinato which gathers strength and momentum, leading to an angrily dissonant outburst. The music recedes but then gathers pace to reach a triumphant conclusion, as if the composer has gone on a journey from despair to conquest. This journey is also reflected in the key scheme which starts in a loose G major and ends in a blazing C-sharp major, thus travelling as far as is possible in tonal space. The structure is very economical in that virtually all the musical material is derived from the opening motive. In my humble opinion, this is one of Ireland's finest works.

Product of lockdown practice (6)