ballade
Americannoun
-
a poem consisting commonly of three stanzas having an identical rhyme scheme, followed by an envoy, and having the same last line for each of the stanzas and the envoy.
-
Music. a composition in free style and romantic mood, often for solo piano or for orchestra.
noun
-
prosody a verse form consisting of three stanzas and an envoy, all ending with the same line. The first three stanzas commonly have eight or ten lines each and the same rhyme scheme
-
music an instrumental composition, esp for piano, based on or intended to evoke a narrative
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of ballade
1485–95; < Middle French, variant of balade ballad
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He hoists the guitar and launches into a beautiful ballade.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
He does this while improvising an elaborately complex poem called a ballade.
From Salon ● Feb. 28, 2022
They began with three works by the 14th-century composer Guillaume de Machaut: a rondeau, a ballade and a motet, arranged by Ari Streisfeld, one of the JACK’s violinists.
From New York Times ● Mar. 4, 2010
This specimen represents the ballade in ten-line stanzas.
From English Verse Specimens Illustrating its Principles and History by Alden, Raymond MacDonald
At their own table a youth of yellow melancholy confided to Piersoll that the afternoon had witnessed an important transaction in verse—the sale of his ballade, "She Was a Belle in the Days of Daguerre."
From Ewing\'s Lady by Wilson, Harry Leon
But Louis Lortie offers a worthy addition with his elegant interpretations of the four ballades, the Opus 57 Berceuse, the Opus 60 Barcarolle and six nocturnes.
From New York Times ● Dec. 20, 2012
A 2004 recital disc by Piotr Anderszewski might not suit every taste, given the broad tempos and elastic phrasing this Polish-Hungarian pianist adopts in seven mazurkas, two ballades and two polonaises.
From New York Times ● May 27, 2010
Chopin composed only four ballades, but they contain some of his most passionate and enticing music.
From Time Magazine Archive
People with a taste for untra-modern spelling sometimes label these productions "ballads" instead of "ballades," and other people sometimes try to give their ballads an archaic flavor by labeling them "ballades."
From The Circus, and Other Essays and Fugitive Pieces by Kilmer, Joyce
The modern English ballades have been, as a rule, closely modelled on the lines laid down in the 15th century by Henri de Croi.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 2 "Baconthorpe" to "Bankruptcy" by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
