Biblioteca de la Guitarra y Cuerda Pulsada

The world's first guitar performance of Ballade No. 1, Op. 23, (orig. in G minor), composed by Frédéric Chopin, arranged for guitar by Viktor Vidović In 1836, a year after his first scherzo, Chopin published his first ballade. He dedicated it to one of his friends at the time, Baron Nathaniel Stockhausen, ambassador of the Kingdom of Hanover. Both the Baron and his wife took piano lessons from Chopin. ‘I have received from Chopin a Ballade’, Robert Schumann informed his friend Heinrich Dorn in the autumn of 1836. ‘It seems to me to be the work closest to his genius (though not the most brilliant). I told him [Schumann was writing the day after a meeting with Chopin] that of everything he has created thus far it appeals to my heart the most. After a lengthy silence, Chopin replied with emphasis: “I am glad, because I too like it the best, it is my dearest work”.’