Ballades Op. 10

Brahms was extremely fond of Johann Gottfried Herder's folk poetry collection Stimmen der Volker in Liedern (Voices of Nations in Songs) and based the Ballade, Op. 10, No. 1 on the 'Edward' ballade from this poetry collection. The remaining three Ballades of Op. 10 have no direct reference to the performer to develop a greater understanding of the individual pieces and their relationship to each other when performed as a set.