Presto con fuoco Chopin marks the second section.  Kullak gives 84 to the quarter, and for the opening 66 to the quarter.  He also wisely marks crescendos in the bass at the first thematic development.  He prefers the E—­as does Klindworth—­nine bars before the return of the presto.  At the eighth bar, after this return, Kullak adheres to the E instead of F at the beginning of the bar, treble clef.  Klindworth indicates both.  Nor does Kullak follow Mikuli in using a D in the coda.  He prefers a D sharp, instead of a natural.  I wish the second Ballade were played oftener in public.  It is quite neglected for the third in A flat, which, as Ehlert says, has the voice of the people.

This Ballade, the “Undine” of Mickiewicz, published November, 1841, and dedicated to Mlle. P. de Noailles, is too well known to analyze.  It is the schoolgirls’ delight, who familiarly toy with its demon, seeing only favor and prettiness in its elegant measures.  In it “the refined, gifted Pole, who is accustomed to move in the most distinguished circles of the French capital, is pre-eminently to be recognized.”  Thus Schumann.  Forsooth, it is aristocratic, gay, graceful, piquant, and also something more.  Even in its playful moments there is delicate irony, a spiritual sporting with graver and more passionate emotions.  Those broken octaves which usher in each time the second theme, with its fascinating, infectious, rhythmical lilt, what an ironically joyous fillip they give the imagination!

“A coquettish grace—­if we accept by this expression that half unconscious toying with the power that charms and fires, that follows up confession with reluctance—­seems the very essence of Chopin’s being.”

“It becomes a difficult task to transcribe the easy transitions, full of an irresistible charm, with which he portrays Love’s game.  Who will not recall the memorable passage in the A flat Ballade, where the right hand alone takes up the dotted eighths after the sustained chord of the sixth of A flat?  Could a lover’s confusion be more deliciously enhanced by silence and hesitation?” Ehlert above evidently sees a ballroom picture of brilliancy, with the regulation tender avowal.  The episodes of this Ballade are so attenuated of any grosser elements that none but psychical meanings should be read into them.

The disputed passage is on the fifth page of the Kullak edition, after the trills.  A measure is missing in Kullak, who, like Klindworth, gives it in a footnote.  To my mind this repetition adds emphasis, although it is a formal blur.  And what an irresistible moment it is, this delightful territory, before the darker mood of the C sharp minor part is reached!  Niecks becomes enthusiastic over the insinuation and persuasion of this composition:  “the composer showing himself in a fundamentally caressing mood.”  The ease with which the entire work is floated proves that Chopin in mental health was not daunted by larger forms.  There is moonlight in this music, and some sunlight, too.  The prevailing moods are coquetry and sweet contentment.