The Ballade No. 2 in

B minor B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative major is D major and its parallel major is B major. The B natural minor scale is: : Changes need ...

, S. 171, is a piano composition by Franz Liszt, written in 1853.

Claudio Arrau Claudio Arrau León (; February 6, 1903June 9, 1991) was a Chilean pianist known for his interpretations of a vast repertoire spanning the baroque to 20th-century composers, especially Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt and B ...

, who studied under Liszt's disciple

Martin Krause Martin Krause (17 June 18532 August 1918) was a German concert pianist, piano teacher,James Methuen-Campbell (2001). Krause, Martin. '' Grove Music Online'', Oxford University Press music critic, and writer. Career Martin Krause was born in ...

, maintained that the Ballade was based on the

Greek myth A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of d ...

of Hero and Leander, with the piece's chromatic ostinati representing the sea: "You really can perceive how the journey turns more and more difficult each time. In the fourth night he drowns. Next, the last pages are a transfiguration". The ballad is based largely on two themes: a broad opening melody underpinned by menacing chromatic rumbles in the lower register of the keyboard, and a luminous ensuing chordal meditation. These themes are repeated a half-step lower; then march-like triplet-rhythms unleash a flood of virtuosity. Eventually, Liszt transforms the opening melody into a rocking major-key cantabile and reiterates this with ever-more grandiose exultation. The luminous chords provide a contemplative close.Ozawa Hall, Tanglewood, Program Booklet, August 11, 2004.

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* Compositions by Franz Liszt Compositions in B minor Piano ballades {{classical-composition-stub