Social history

The First Scherzo and First Ballade were composed during Chopin's early years in Paris. The exact dates of their composition have not been determined reliably, but it is probable that neither work was begun before 1833. Indeed on stylistic and other evidence it seems likely that they were drafted not long before their publication in 1835 and 1836 respectively. Whatever their precise dates of composition, the Scherzo and Ballade have special significance within Chopin's output. They were the first of his extended compositions to turn aside from the genres of post-classical popular concert music (variation sets, rondos and ‘brilliant’ concertos) as well as those of so-called ‘Viennese’ Classicism (multi-movement sonatas and chamber works). In the Scherzo and Ballade Chopin followed a special path. He drew sustenance from classical and post-classical traditions, but remained essentially independent of both – to the point of establishing new genres. There is of course a stylistic background to Chopin's achievement in these two works, a range of early influences that left their trace even as they were transcended. But there is also a wider social background. Some of the enabling factors were products of Chopin's unique position within the social world of early nineteenth-century pianism. Here too he followed a special path.

Born in 1810, his early development as a composer took place in Warsaw during the 1820s. Warsaw was by no means a leading cultural centre in the early nineteenth century, but – at least until the 1830 insurrection – it registered something of the major change then taking place more widely in music and music-making.