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The Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52 is the fourth of Polish composer Frédéric Chopin’s ballades for solo piano. It was composed in 1842 in Paris, France and Nohant, France and revised in 1843. This work was dedicated to the wife of Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild , who had invited Chopin to play in her Parisian estate and introduced him to the aristocracy and nobility.

The Ballade No. 3 in A-flat major, Op. 47 is Chopin’s third ballade, dating from 1841. It is dedicated to Mlle. de Noailles. The ballade takes from six to eight minutes to play. The long ending is typical of Romantic music, though the last ending is rather short, containing the chords C major, F minor, E-flat 7, and A-flat major. It is considered by many to be the easiest of Chopin’s four ballades to master, although it should by no means be considered an overall “easy” piece.

The Ballade No. 2 in F major, Op. 38 is the second of the four ballades for piano solo by Frédéric Chopin.

The Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23 is the first of Frédéric Chopin’s four ballades for solo piano. It was composed in 1835-36 during the composer’s early days in Paris and is dedicated to “Monsieur le Baron de Stockhausen,” Hanoverian ambassador to France.

Chopin cited the poet Adam Mickiewicz as an influence for his ballades[citation needed] (this according to a rumour based on a remark by Robert Schumann concerning the genesis of Chopin’s second ballade). The exact inspiration for each piece is not clear.

The music is built from two main themes, the first introduced in bar 7 after the short introduction, and the second in bar 69. Both themes return in different guises. The piece is in compound duple time (6/4) except for the short introduction (in 4/4) and the coda (in 2/2). Sections of the piece are technically demanding, requiring complex fingering, wide chords, octaves, extremely fast chords, and even a section of chromatic chords near the end. Its complex structure combines ideas from sonata and variation forms.