Thematic and tonal imagery in Brahms's Ballade in D Minor, Op. 10, No. 1

American Music Teacher, Dec, 2004 by llen Rennie Flint

In the third and final section of the piece we hear, through a complete restatement of the Mother's theme in its original register, the Mother's repeated plea, "And what will ye leave to your own Mother dear?" The Mother's selfish question is accompanied by a fragmented triplet figure in the bassline, which conjures an aural sensation of the dripping of blood from Edward's sword. The fragmented triplet figure forms, musically, a canon at the octave with the Mother's theme in measures 59-64 (see Example 8).

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The Mother's pleadings are made all the more pitiful with the sudden shift of key to the minor dominant (A minor). It is as if this whining self-pity is the last straw for Edward, and with the fully diminished seventh chord in measures 64 and 65, Edward presents his Mother with a parting gift: "The curse of Hell from me shall ye bear." As if to underscore Edward's curse, the dripping of blood becomes more persistent as the fragmented triplet figure in octaves replaces the single notes in the bass. In measures 68 and 69, an A-major chord, the dominant of the key, is sounded, signaling the end of the piece. Yet, Edward is not finished, and he will have the final word. Before the dominant chord is resolved, the bass descends through a crescendo and settles momentarily, as if in anguish, on a wrenchingly dissonant f, the third of the tonic triad, and it is here, perhaps, that the reason for Edward's curse is revealed. This is, perhaps, the most horrifying of all the revelations in the poem and in the piece, for now we know that it was by his own Mother's counsel that Edward committed the heinous crime of patricide.

Figure 1. Tripartite formal plan of the "Edward" Ballade.

    Musical Section            Corresponding Poetic Stanza

Section I (mm, 1-26):      Stanzas 1 and 2 (the Mother's first
                           two questions and Edward's
                           deceitful answers

Section II (mm. 27-59):    Stanza 3 (the continuation of
                           Edward's second lie, the Mother's
                           question yet a third time and
                           Edward's revelation of the truth of
                           his murderous deed)

Section III (mm. 60-71):   Stanzas 4 through 7, especially the
                           last (the Mother's whining concern
                           for her own fate and Edward's final
                           damning revelation)

Figure 2. Comparison of the Poetic and Musical Formal Structures
in the "Edward" Ballade

               Stanza                     Theme/Motive

Why does your sword so drip with blood,   Motives a-d
                        Edward, Edward?   Motive e
Why does your sword so drip with blood,   Motives a b
                                          Motives a b
And why are ye so sad, O?                 Motive e extended
O, I have killed my hawk so good,         Edward's Theme
                        Mother, Mother,
O, I have killed my hawk so good.         Edward's Theme

        (And I had no other but he, O.)
Your hawk's blood was never so red,       Motives a-d
                        Edward, Edward,   Motive e
Your hawk's blood was never so red,       Motives a-b
                                          Motives a-b
           My dear son, I tell thee, O.   Motive e extended
O, I have killed my red-roan steed,       Edward's Theme
                         Mother, Mother   (inverted)
O, I have killed my red-roan steed,       Edward's Theme
                             (inverted)
         (That was so fair and free, O)

                Stanza                    Key-Cadence

Why does your sword so drip with blood,   d-       half cadence
                        Edward, Edward?   d-       half cadence
Why does your sword so drip with blood,   d        [??]subdominant
                                          g        [??]relationship
And why are ye so sad, O?                 d-       half cadence
O, I have killed my hawk so good,         B-flat-g [??]subdominant
                        Mother, Mother,
O, I have killed my hawk so good.         E-flat-c [??]relationship
                                          E-flat-d half cadence
        (And I had no other but he, O.)
Your hawk's blood was never so red,       d -      half cadence
                        Edward, Edward,   d -      half cadence
Your hawk's blood was never so red,       d        [??]subdominant
                                          g        [??]relationship
           My dear son, I tell thee, O.   B-flat-  half cadence
O, I have killed my red-roan steed,       B-flat-g [??]subdominant
                         Mother, Mother
O, I have killed my red-roan steed,       E-flat-c [??]relationship
                             (inverted)
                                          E-flat-g half cadence
         (That was so fair and free, O)