Of all three fundamental musical elements—rhythm, harmony, and melody—rhythm is certainly the most primal, the pulse-giving, if not the life-giving element.

In the beginning was rhythm.
Hans von Bülow

True to this motto, Ballade No. 3 in D is designed to illuminate the different facets of a rhythmic motif's variation. Augmentation, diminution, and inversion of the same rhythmic motif thus evoke distinct characteristic sections.

Opening with a grand double octave run in D, the piece plunges directly into the formative rhythmic motif. A shortening of the successive note values—quarter, dotted eighth, sixteenth, eighth, sixteenth—provides the basis for the striking and powerful theme. Melodically descending, the motif pushes forward energetically. It transitions seamlessly into a more lyrical Andante. However, the loveliness is fleeting. Long chains of sixteenth notes spiral urgently upwards as a duet between two voices, only to plunge again into the initial motif. A cadence in A underpins the rhythmic motif in a broad and unmistakable chordal manner. A final triolic ascent allows the first section to fade away simply.

The second section, in F-sharp minor, develops over the motif augmented from Part I in the bass. Broad sweeps of sixteenth notes, like strokes across a landscape, unfold the rather somber mood. A broad chord in F-sharp major opens the chorale Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light, attempting to break through the night. However, only the repetition of the chorale theme and its elaboration with full chains of sixteenth notes in the left hand seem to dispel the interjections of the dark night. Yet, the clearing seems to be short-lived. There is a return to the initial section, whose cadence now provides the hoped-for resolution with the aid of the Picardy third.

The third section begins abruptly with an explosive gesture based on the diminution of the initial motif. With precise chordal strikes, the theme of this third section slowly builds. A descending melodic line from A to A, moving in the rhythm of the original motif but processed here in triplets, hints at echoes of a waltz. An interruptus occurs. Like a loud call, one seems to be in another scene for a few moments before the waltz picks up speed again. Triplets become broad, measure-spanning sextolets, until these finally shorten to half-measure, thus blurring the meter of the two-four time with the help of long melodic phrases. Again, two voices intertwine, gliding along supported by the half-measure beats. Widening, the harmonic progression thickens until a large sixth run, followed by a gasping upswing, abruptly ends the section.

The fourth and final section follows seamlessly. As a complementary part to the third, it is based on the inversion of the original motif, which introduces the dynamic final section. The theme of the third section sounds again, followed by the already familiar interruptus. This time, however, it becomes the main protagonist. Still somewhat foreign in the third section, a yearning melodic line now unfolds, complemented by large fiorituras in the left hand. The piece modulates briskly to E minor, supported by this structure. The renewed look back at the theme of the third section, as well as a swirling of the voices in the left hand, herald the finale. Rhythmically dense accents demand the theme of the third section one last time before it dissolves in a wild dance of motif fragments and rhythmic displacements to the climax in the form of the initial double octave run. A brief pause seems only to fuel the tension. A final surge lets the piece end with a bang.

The piece for piano was written in winter and spring 2024.