There is a certain level of mysticism in this Ballade Op. 23. From the very first listening a careful listener could be in the position to recognize the strange change of characters throughout the musical flow. Isn’t that intriguing? How is it possible for all these different characters to coexist in such a dense piece, one might ask themselves. Well, I’ll try to answer on this and some other questions, and perhaps, find new ones to ask so someone else can answer them.