Hyperion Records

Vianna da Motta's Ballada Op 16—composed in 1905 and based on two popular Portuguese songs, ‘Tricana da Aldeia’ and an ‘Ave Maria’—is undoubtedly his most mature piano work. The first song is treated in variation form and the second serves as a peaceful coda to a dramatic and virtuosic work. This work is similar in form to Grieg’s Ballade in G minor, and it is interesting to note that in his book Meister des Klaviers Walter Niemann referred to Vianna da Motta as ‘the Portuguese Grieg’.

from notes by Artur Pizarro © 2000