🇫🇷Jacques Ibert ： 6 Pieces Ballade

“Ballade,” one of the pieces in Ibert’s *6 Pieces*, is best appreciated through its speech-like melody and sense of free, breathing phrasing, as suggested by its title. Changes in the way the melody is passed between voices and shifts in harmony create changing expressions, while the delicate contrasts between quieter passages and moments in which the music expands provide much of its appeal. In performance, the main melody should be clearly brought out from the inner voices and accompaniment, with each phrase moving naturally toward its climax. The pedal should be used carefully so that the sonority remains clear, and any flexibility of tempo should be restrained enough to serve the music’s breathing.