Ballade for Guitar
Instrumentation: guitar
Type: solo
Year: 2013
Premiere: Performed by John Feeley, 28th August 2013, National Concert Hall, Dublin.
Duration: 5’
Ballade for guitar was inspired by the Ballades of Frédérick Chopin. It consists of three contrasting themes; the first of which is mainly melodic in content; the second uses strummed material; and the third is plucked. The resulting structure is a kind of sonata form where the development section is substituted by the third theme. In keeping within Chopin’s tradition of the ballade, the themes are presented in reverse order in the recapitulation section.