BRAHMS' PIANO WORKS
Played by HOWARD JONES
Ballad No. I in D minor (' Edward '), Op. 10
Waltzes from Op, 39
THE first of the four Ballads that make up
Brahms' Op. 10 is described as .' After the Scottish ballad Edward '-the words of which the composer later set as one of his Ballads and Romances (Op. 75). This ancient tale, the spirit of which is caught in the piece we are to hear, is found in Percy's Reliques. It is » dialogue between a mother and her son. He comes in with reddened sword, and she anxiously . asks what is the meaning of it. He says first that he has killed his steed. Pressed, he declares that he has killed his father. In the mother's heart fear and horror grow. He says ho will' ' fare over the sea,' leaving his wife and children for ever. ' And what will ye leave to your ain mither, dear ? ' she tremblingly asks. In anger and despair, the son cries out,' The ourso of hell frao me shall ye bear ! '—for ' sic counsels ye gave to me.'