page:  = Charles @-@ Valentin Alkan = 
   
   Charles @-@ Valentin Alkan ( French : [ ʃaʁl valɑ ̃ tɛ ̃ alkɑ ̃ ] ; 30 November 1813 – 29 March 1888 ) was a French @-@ Jewish composer and virtuoso pianist . At the height of his fame in the 1830s and 1840s he was , alongside his friends and colleagues Frédéric Chopin and Franz Liszt , among the leading pianists in Paris , a city in which he spent virtually his entire life . 
   Alkan earned many awards at the Conservatoire de Paris , which he entered before he was six . His career in the salons and concert halls of Paris was marked by his occasional long withdrawals from public performance , for personal reasons . Although he had a wide circle of friends and acquaintances in the Parisian artistic world , including Eugène Delacroix and George Sand , from 1848 he began to adopt a reclusive life style , while continuing with his compositions – virtually all of which are for the keyboard . During this period he published , among other works , his collections of large @-@ scale studies in all the major keys ( Op. 35 ) and all the minor keys ( Op. 39 ) . The latter includes his Symphony for Solo Piano ( Op. 39 , nos . 4 – 7 ) and Concerto for Solo Piano ( Op. 39 , nos . 8 – 10 ) , which are often considered among his masterpieces and are of great musical and technical complexity . Alkan emerged from self @-@ imposed retirement in the 1870s to give a series of recitals that were attended by a new generation of French musicians . 
   Alkan 's attachment to his Jewish origins is displayed both in his life and his work . He was the first composer to incorporate Jewish melodies in art music . Fluent in Hebrew and Greek , he devoted much time to a complete new translation of the Bible into French . This work , like many of his musical compositions , is now lost . Alkan never married , but his presumed son Élie @-@ Miriam Delaborde was , like Alkan , a virtuoso performer on both the piano and the pedal piano , and edited a number of the elder composer 's works . 
   Following his death ( which according to persistent but unfounded legend was caused by a falling bookcase ) Alkan 's music became neglected , supported by only a few musicians including Ferruccio Busoni , Egon Petri and Kaikhosru Sorabji . From the late 1960s onwards , led by Raymond Lewenthal and Ronald Smith , many pianists have recorded his music and brought it back into the repertoire . 
   
   = = Life = = 
   
   
   = = = Family = = = 
   
   Alkan was born Charles @-@ Valentin Morhange on 30 November 1813 at 1 , Rue de Braque in Paris to Alkan Morhange ( 1780 – 1855 ) and Julie Morhange , née Abraham . Alkan Morhange was descended from a long @-@ established Jewish Ashkenazic community in the region of Metz ; the village of Morhange is located about 30 miles ( 48 km ) from the city of Metz . Charles @-@ Valentin was the second of six children – one elder sister and four younger brothers ; his birth certificate indicates that he was named after a neighbour who witnessed the birth . 
   Alkan Morhange supported the family as a musician and later as the proprietor of a private music school in le Marais , the Jewish quarter of Paris . At an early age , Charles @-@ Valentin and his siblings adopted their father 's first name as their last ( and were known by this during their studies at the Conservatoire de Paris and subsequent careers ) . His brother Napoléon ( 1826 – 1906 ) became professor of solfège at the Conservatoire , his brother Maxim ( 1818 – 1897 ) had a career writing light music for Parisian theatres , and his sister , Céleste ( 1812 – 1897 ) , was also a pianist . His brother Ernest ( 1816 – 1876 ) was a professional flautist , while the youngest brother Gustave ( 1827 – 1882 ) was to publish various dances for the piano . 
   
   = = = Prodigy ( 1819 – 1831 ) = = = 
   
   Alkan was a child prodigy . He entered the Conservatoire de Paris at an unusually early age , and studied both piano and organ . The records of his auditions survive in the Archives Nationales in Paris . At his solfège audition on 3 July 1819 , when he was just over 5 years 7 months , the examiners noted Alkan ( who is referred to even at this early date as " Alkan ( Valentin ) " , and whose age is given incorrectly as six @-@ and @-@ a @-@ half ) as " having a pretty little voice " . The profession of Alkan Morhange is given as " music @-@ paper ruler " . At Charles @-@ Valentin 's piano audition on 6 October 1820 , when he was nearly seven ( and where he is named as " Alkan ( Morhange ) Valentin " ) , the examiners comment " This child has amazing abilities . " 
   Alkan became a favourite of his teacher at the Conservatoire , Joseph Zimmermann , who also taught Georges Bizet , César Franck , Charles Gounod , and Ambroise Thomas . At the age of seven , Alkan won a first prize for solfège and in later years prizes in piano ( 1824 ) , harmony ( 1827 ) , and organ ( 1834 ) . At the age of seven @-@ and @-@ a @-@ half he gave his first public performance , appearing as a violinist and playing an air and variations by Pierre Rode . Alkan 's Opus 1 , a set of variations for piano based on a theme by Daniel Steibelt , dates from 1828 , when he was 14 years old . At about this time he also undertook teaching duties at his father 's school . Antoine Marmontel , one of Charles @-@ Valentin 's pupils there , who was later to become his bête noire , wrote of the school : 
   Young children , mostly Jewish , were given elementary musical instruction and also learnt the first rudiments of French grammar ... [ There ] I received a few lessons from the young Alkan , four years my senior ... I see once more ... that really parochial environment where the talent of Valentin Alkan was formed and where his hard @-@ working youth blossomed ... It was like a preparatory school , a juvenile annexe of the Conservatoire . 
   From about 1826 Alkan began to appear as a piano soloist in leading Parisian salons , including those of the Princesse de la Moskova ( widow of Marshal Ney ) , and the Duchesse de Montebello . He was probably introduced to these venues by his teacher Zimmermann . At the same time , Alkan Morhange arranged concerts featuring Charles @-@ Valentin at public venues in Paris , in association with leading musicians including the sopranos Giuditta Pasta and Henriette Sontag , the cellist Auguste Franchomme and the violinist Lambert Massart , with whom Alkan gave concerts in a rare visit out of France to Brussels in 1827 . In 1829 , at the age of 15 , Alkan was appointed joint professor of solfège – among his pupils in this class a few years later was his brother Napoléon . In this manner Alkan 's musical career was launched well before the July Revolution of 1830 , which initiated a period in which " keyboard virtuosity ... completely dominated professional music making " in the capital , attracting from all over Europe pianists who , as Heinrich Heine wrote , invaded " like a plague of locusts swarming to pick Paris clean " . Alkan nonetheless continued his studies and in 1831 enrolled in the organ classes of François Benoist , from whom he may have learnt to appreciate the music of Johann Sebastian Bach , of whom Benoist was then one of the few French advocates . 
   
   = = = Early fame ( 1831 – 1837 ) = = = 
   
   Throughout the early years of the July Monarchy , Alkan continued to teach and play at public concerts and in eminent social circles . He became a friend of many who were active in the world of the arts in Paris , including Franz Liszt ( who had been based there since 1827 ) , George Sand , and Victor Hugo . It is not clear exactly when he first met Frédéric Chopin , who arrived in Paris in September 1831 . In 1832 Alkan took the solo role in his first Concerto da camera for piano and strings at the Conservatoire . In the same year , aged 19 , he was elected to the influential Société Académique des Enfants d 'Apollon ( Society of the Children of Apollo ) , whose members included Luigi Cherubini , Fromental Halévy , the conductor François Habeneck , and Liszt , who had been elected in 1824 at the age of twelve . Between 1833 and 1836 Alkan participated at many of the Society 's concerts . Alkan twice competed unsuccessfully for the Prix de Rome , in 1832 and again in 1834 ; the cantatas which he wrote for the competition , Hermann et Ketty and L 'Entrée en loge , have remained unpublished and unperformed . 
   In 1834 Alkan began his friendship with the Spanish musician Santiago Masarnau , which was to result in an extended and often intimate correspondence which only came to light in 2009 . Like virtually all of Alkan 's correspondence , this exchange is now one @-@ sided ; all of his papers ( including his manuscripts and his extensive library ) were either destroyed by Alkan himself , as is clear from his will , or became lost after his death . Later in 1834 Alkan made a visit to England , where he gave recitals and where the second Concerto da camera was performed in Bath by its dedicatee Henry Ibbot Field ; it was published in London together with some solo piano pieces . A letter to Masarnau and a notice in a French journal that Alkan played in London with Moscheles and Cramer , indicate that he returned to England in 1835 . Later that year , Alkan , having found a place of retreat at Piscop outside Paris , completed his first truly original works for solo piano , the Twelve Caprices , published in 1837 as Opp . 12 , 13 , 15 and 16 . Op. 16 , the Trois scherzi de bravoure , is dedicated to Masarnau . In January 1836 , Liszt recommended Alkan for the post of Professor at the Geneva Conservatoire , which Alkan declined , and in 1837 he wrote an enthusiastic review of Alkan 's Op. 15 Caprices in the Revue et gazette musicale . 
   
   = = = At the Square d 'Orléans ( 1837 – 1848 ) = = = 
   
   From 1837 , Alkan lived in the Square d 'Orléans in Paris , which was inhabited by numerous celebrities of the time including Marie Taglioni , Alexandre Dumas , George Sand , and Chopin . Chopin and Alkan were personal friends and often discussed musical topics , including a work on musical theory that Chopin proposed to write . By 1838 , at 25 years old , Alkan had reached a peak of his career . He frequently gave recitals , his more mature works had begun to be published , and he often appeared in concerts with Liszt and Chopin . On 23 April 1837 Alkan took part in Liszt 's farewell concert in Paris , together with the 14 @-@ year @-@ old César Franck and the virtuoso Johann Peter Pixis . On 3 March 1838 , at a concert at the piano @-@ maker Pape , Alkan played with Chopin , Zimmerman , and Chopin 's pupil Adolphe Gutmann in a performance of Alkan 's transcription , now lost , of two movements of Beethoven 's Seventh Symphony for two pianos , eight hands . 
   At this point , for a period which coincided with the birth and childhood of his natural son , Élie @-@ Miriam Delaborde ( 1839 – 1913 ) , Alkan withdrew into private study and composition for six years , returning to the concert platform only in 1844 . Alkan neither asserted or denied his paternity of Delaborde , which , however , his contemporaries seemed to assume . Marmontel wrote cryptically in a biography of Delaborde that " [ his ] birth is a page from a novel in the life of a great artist " . Alkan gave early piano lessons to Delaborde , who was to follow his natural father as a keyboard virtuoso . 
   Alkan 's return to the concert platform in 1844 was greeted with enthusiasm by critics , who noted the " admirable perfection " of his technique , and lauded him as " a model of science and inspiration " , a " sensation " and an " explosion " . They also commented on the attending celebrities including Liszt , Chopin , Sand and Dumas . In the same year he published his piano étude Le chemin de fer , which critics , following Ronald Smith , believe to be the first representation in music of a steam engine . Between 1844 and 1848 Alkan produced a series of virtuoso pieces , the 25 Préludes Op. 31 for piano or organ , and the sonata Op. 33 Les quatre âges . Following an Alkan recital in 1848 , the composer Giacomo Meyerbeer was so impressed that he invited the pianist , whom he considered " a most remarkable artist " , to prepare the piano arrangement of the overture to his forthcoming opera , Le prophète . Meyerbeer heard and approved Alkan 's arrangement of the overture for four hands ( which Alkan played with his brother Napoléon ) in 1849 ; published in 1850 , it is the only record of the overture , which was scrapped during rehearsals at the Opéra . 
   
   = = = Retreat ( 1848 – 1872 ) = = = 
   
   In 1848 Alkan was bitterly disappointed when the head of the Conservatoire , Daniel Auber , replaced the retiring Zimmermann with the mediocre Marmontel as head of the Conservatoire piano department , a position which Alkan had eagerly anticipated , and for which he had strongly lobbied with the support of Sand , Dumas , and many other leading figures . A disgusted Alkan described the appointment in a letter to Sand as " the most incredible , the most shameful nomination " ; and Delacroix noted in his journal " By his confrontation with Auber , [ Alkan ] has been very put out and will doubtless continue to be so . " The upset arising from this incident may account for Alkan 's reluctance to perform in public in the ensuing period . His withdrawal was also influenced by the death of Chopin ; in 1850 he wrote to Masarnau " I have lost the strength to be of any economic or political use " , and lamented " the death of poor Chopin , another blow which I felt deeply . " Chopin , on his deathbed in 1849 , had indicated his respect for Alkan by bequeathing him his unfinished work on a piano method , intending him to complete it , and after Chopin 's death a number of his students transferred to Alkan . After giving two concerts in 1853 , Alkan withdrew , in spite of his fame and technical accomplishment , into virtual seclusion for some twenty years . 
   Little is known of this period of Alkan 's life , other than that apart from composing he was immersed in the study of the Bible and the Talmud . Throughout this period Alkan continued his correspondence with Ferdinand Hiller , whom he had probably met in Paris in the 1830s , and with Masarnau , from which some insights can be gained . It appears that Alkan completed a full translation into French , now lost , of both the Old Testament and the New Testament , from their original languages . In 1865 , he wrote to Hiller : " Having translated a good deal of the Apocrypha , I 'm now onto the second Gospel which I am translating from the Syriac ... In starting to translate the New Testament , I was suddenly struck by a singular idea – that you have to be Jewish to be able to do it . " 
   Despite his seclusion from society , this period saw the composition and publication of many of Alkan 's major piano works , including the Douze études dans tous les tons mineurs , Op. 39 ( 1857 ) , the Sonatine , Op. 61 ( 1861 ) , the 49 Esquisses , Op. 63 ( 1861 ) , and the five collections of Chants ( 1857 – 1872 ) , as well as the Sonate de concert for cello and piano , Op. 47 ( 1856 ) . These did not pass unremarked ; Hans von Bülow , for example , gave a laudatory review of the Op. 35 Études in the Neue Berliner Musikzeitung in 1857 , the year in which they were published in Berlin , commenting that " Alkan is unquestionably the most eminent representative of the modern piano school at Paris . The virtuoso 's disinclination to travel , and his firm reputation as a teacher , explain why , at present , so little attention has been given to his work in Germany . " 
   From the early 1850s Alkan began to turn his attention seriously to the pedal piano ( pédalier ) . Alkan gave his first public performances on the pédalier to great critical acclaim in 1852 . From 1859 onwards he began to publish pieces designated as " for organ or piano à pédalier " . 
   
   = = = Reappearance ( 1873 – 1888 ) = = = 
   
   It is not clear why , in 1873 , Alkan decided to emerge from his self @-@ imposed obscurity to give a series of six Petits Concerts at the Érard piano showrooms . It may have been associated with the developing career of Delaborde , who , returning to Paris in 1867 , soon became a concert fixture , including in his recitals many works by his father , and who was at the end of 1872 given the appointment that had escaped Alkan himself , Professor at the Conservatoire . The success of the Petits Concerts led to them becoming an annual event ( with occasional interruptions caused by Alkan 's health ) until 1880 or possibly beyond . The Petits Concerts featured music not only by Alkan but of his favourite composers from Bach onwards , played on both the piano and the pédalier , and occasionally with the participation of another instrumentalist or singer . He was assisted in these concerts by his siblings , and by other musicians including Delaborde , Camille Saint @-@ Saëns , and Auguste Franchomme . 
   Those encountering Alkan at this phase included the young Vincent d 'Indy , who recalled Alkan 's " skinny , hooked fingers " playing Bach on an Érard pedal piano : " I listened , riveted to the spot by the expressive , crystal @-@ clear playing . " Alkan later played Beethoven 's Op. 110 sonata , of which d 'Indy said : " What happened to the great Beethovenian poem ... I couldn 't begin to describe – above all in the Arioso and the Fugue , where the melody , penetrating the mystery of Death itself , climbs up to a blaze of light , affected me with an excess of enthusiasm such as I have never experienced since . This was not Liszt — perhaps less perfect , technically — but it had greater intimacy and was more humanly moving ... " 
   The biographer of Chopin , Frederick Niecks , sought Alkan for his recollections in 1880 but was sternly denied access by Alkan 's concierge – " To my ... enquiry when he could be found at home , the reply was a ... decisive ' Never ' . " However , a few days later he found Alkan at Érard 's , and Niecks writes of their meeting that " his reception of me was not merely polite but most friendly . " 
   
   = = = Death = = = 
   
   According to his death certificate , Alkan died in Paris on 29 March 1888 at the age of 74 . Alkan was buried on 1 April ( Easter Sunday ) in the Jewish section of Montmartre Cemetery , Paris , not far from the tomb of his contemporary Fromental Halévy ; his sister Céleste was later buried in the same tomb . 
   For many years it was believed that Alkan met his death when a bookcase toppled over and fell on him as he reached for a volume of the Talmud from a high shelf . This tale , which was circulated by the pianist Isidor Philipp , is dismissed by Hugh Macdonald , who reports the discovery of a contemporary letter by one of his pupils explaining that Alkan had been found prostrate in his kitchen , under a porte @-@ parapluie ( a heavy coat / umbrella rack ) , after his concierge heard his moaning . He had possibly fainted , bringing it down on himself while grabbing out for support . He was reportedly carried to his bedroom and died later that evening . The story of the bookcase may have its roots in a legend told of Aryeh Leib ben Asher , rabbi of Metz , the town from which Alkan 's family originated . 
   
   = = Personality = = 
   
   Alkan was described by Marmontel ( who refers to " a regrettable misunderstanding at a moment of our careers in 1848 " ) , as follows : 
   " We will not give the portrait of Valentin Alkan from the rear , as in some photographs we have seen . His intelligent and original physiognomy deserves to be taken in profile or head @-@ on . The head is strong ; the deep forehead is that of a thinker ; the mouth large and smiling , the nose regular ; the years have whitened the beard and hair ... the gaze fine , a little mocking . His stooped walk , his puritan comportment , give him the look of an Anglican minister or a rabbi – for which he has the abilities . " 
   Alkan was not always remote or aloof . Chopin describes , in a letter to friend , visiting the theatre with Alkan in 1847 to see the comedian Arnal : " [ Arnal ] tells the audience how he was desperate to pee in a train , but couldn 't get to a toilet before they stopped at Orléans . There wasn 't a single vulgar word in what he said , but everyone understood and split their sides laughing . " Hugh Macdonald notes that Alkan " particularly enjoyed the patronage of Russian aristocratic ladies , ' des dames très parfumées et froufroutantes [ highly perfumed and frilled ladies ] ' , as Isidore Philipp described them . " 
   Alkan 's aversion to socialising and publicity , especially following 1850 , appeared to be self @-@ willed . Liszt is reported to have commented to the Danish pianist Frits Hartvigson that " Alkan possessed the finest technique he had ever known , but preferred the life of a recluse . " Stephanie McCallum has suggested that Alkan may have suffered from Asperger syndrome , schizophrenia or obsessive – compulsive disorder . 
   Alkan 's later correspondence contains many despairing comments . In a letter of about 1861 he wrote to Hiller : " I 'm becoming daily more and more misanthropic and misogynous ... nothing worthwhile , good or useful to do ... no one to devote myself to . My situation makes me horridly sad and wretched . Even musical production has lost its attraction for me for I can 't see the point or goal . " This spirit of anomie may have led him to reject requests in the 1860s to play in public , or to allow performances of his orchestral compositions . However , it should not be ignored that he was writing similarly frantic self @-@ analyses in his letters of the early 1830s to Masarnau . 
   Jack Gibbons writes of Alkan 's personality : " Alkan was an intelligent , lively , humorous and warm person ( all characteristics which feature strongly in his music ) whose only crime seems to have been having a vivid imagination , and whose occasional eccentricities ( mild when compared with the behaviour of other ' highly @-@ strung ' artistes ! ) stemmed mainly from his hypersensitive nature . " Macdonald , however , suggests that " Alkan was a man of profoundly conservative ideas , whose lifestyle , manner of dress , and belief in the traditions of historic music , set him apart from other musicians and the world at large . " 
   
   = = Judaism = = 
   
   Alkan grew up in a religiously observant Jewish household . His grandfather Marix Morhange had been a printer of the Talmud in Metz , and was probably a melamed ( Hebrew teacher ) in the Jewish congregation at Paris . Alkan 's widespread reputation as a student of the Old Testament and religion , and the high quality of his Hebrew handwriting testify to his knowledge of the religion , and many of his habits indicate that he practised at least some of its obligations , such as maintaining the laws of kashrut . Alkan was regarded by the Paris Consistory , the central Jewish organisation of the city , as an authority on Jewish music . In 1845 he assisted the Consistory in evaluating the musical ability of Samuel Naumbourg , who was subsequently appointed as hazzan ( cantor ) of the main Paris synagogue ; and he later contributed choral pieces in each of Naumbourg 's collections of synagogue music ( 1847 and 1856 ) . Alkan was appointed organist at the Synagogue de Nazareth in 1851 , although he resigned the post almost immediately for " artistic reasons " . 
   Alkan 's Op. 31 set of Préludes includes a number of pieces based on Jewish subjects , including some titled Prière ( Prayer ) , one preceded by a quote from the Song of Songs , and another titled Ancienne mélodie de la synagogue ( Old synagogue melody ) . The collection is believed to be " the first publication of art music specifically to deploy Jewish themes and ideas . " Alkan 's three settings of synagogue melodies , prepared for his former pupil Zina de Mansouroff , are further examples of his interest in Jewish music ; Kessous Dreyfuss provides a detailed analysis of these works and their origins . Other works evidencing this interest include no . 7 of his Op. 66 . 11 Grands préludes et 1 Transcription ( 1866 ) , entitled " Alla giudesca " and marked " con divozione " , a parody of excessive hazzanic practice ; and the slow movement of the cello sonata Op. 47 ( 1857 ) , which is prefaced by a quotation from the Old Testament prophet Micah and uses melodic tropes derived from the cantillation of the haftarah in the synagogue . 
   The inventory of Alkan 's apartment made after his death indicates over 75 volumes in Hebrew or related to Judaism , left to his brother Napoléon ( as well as 36 volumes of music manuscript ) . These are all lost . Bequests in his will to the Conservatoire to found prizes for composition of cantatas on Old Testament themes and for performance on the pedal @-@ piano , and to a Jewish charity for the training of apprentices , were refused by the beneficiaries . 
   
   = = Music = = 
   
   
   = = = Influences = = = 
   
   Brigitte François @-@ Sappey points out the frequency with which Alkan has been compared to Berlioz , both by his contemporaries and later . She mentions that Hans von Bülow called him " the Berlioz of the piano " , while Schumann , in criticising the Op. 15 Romances , claimed that Alkan merely " imitated Berlioz on the piano . " She further notes that Ferruccio Busoni repeated the comparison with Berlioz in a draft ( but unpublished ) monograph , while Kaikhosru Sorabji commented that Alkan 's Op. 61 Sonatine was like " a Beethoven sonata written by Berlioz " . Berlioz was ten years older than Alkan , but did not attend the Conservatoire until 1826 . The two were acquainted , and were perhaps both influenced by the unusual ideas and style of Anton Reicha who taught at the Conservatoire from 1818 to 1836 , and by the sonorities of the composers of the period of the French Revolution . They both created individual , indeed , idiosyncratic sound @-@ worlds in their music ; there are , however , major differences between them . Alkan , unlike Berlioz , remained closely dedicated to the German musical tradition ; his style and composition were heavily determined by his pianism , whereas Berlioz could hardly play at the keyboard and wrote nothing for piano solo . Alkan 's works therefore also include miniatures and ( among his early works ) salon music , genres which Berlioz avoided . 
   Alkan 's attachment to the music of his predecessors is demonstrated throughout his career , from his arrangements for keyboard of Beethoven 's Seventh Symphony ( 1838 ) , and of the minuet of Mozart 's 40th Symphony ( 1844 ) , through the sets Souvenirs des concerts du Conservatoire ( 1847 and 1861 ) and the set Souvenirs de musique de chambre ( 1862 ) , which include transcriptions of music by Mozart , Beethoven , J. S. Bach , Haydn , Gluck , and others . In this context should be mentioned Alkan 's extensive cadenza for Beethoven 's 3rd Piano Concerto ( 1860 ) , which includes quotes from the finale of Beethoven 's 5th Symphony . Alkan 's transcriptions , together with original music of Bach , Beethoven , Handel , Mendelssohn , Couperin and Rameau , were frequently played during the series of Petits Concerts given by Alkan at Erard . 
   As regards the music of his own time , Alkan was unenthusiastic , or at any rate detached . He commented to Hiller that " Wagner is not a musician , he is a disease . " While he admired Berlioz 's talent , he did not enjoy his music . At the Petits Concerts , little more recent than Mendelssohn and Chopin ( both of whom had died around 25 years before the series of concerts was initiated ) was played , except for Alkan 's own works and occasionally some by his favourites such as Saint @-@ Saëns . 
   
   = = = Style = = = 
   
   " Like ... Chopin " , writes pianist and academic Kenneth Hamilton , " Alkan 's musical output was centred almost exclusively on the piano " . Some of his music requires extreme technical virtuosity , clearly reflecting his own abilities , often calling for great velocity , enormous leaps at speed , long stretches of fast repeated notes , and the maintenance of widely spaced contrapuntal lines . The illustration ( right ) from the Grande sonate is analysed by Smith as " six parts in invertible counterpoint , plus two extra voices and three doublings – eleven parts in all . " Some typical musical devices , such as a sudden explosive final chord following a quiet passage , were established at an early stage in Alkan 's compositions . Macdonald suggests that 
   unlike Wagner , Alkan did not seek to refashion the world through opera ; nor , like Berlioz , to dazzle the crowds by putting orchestral music at the service of literary expression ; nor even , as with Chopin or Liszt , to extend the field of harmonic idiom . Armed with his key instrument , the piano , he sought incessantly to transcend its inherent technical limits , remaining apparently insensible to the restrictions which had withheld more restrained composers . 
   However , not all of Alkan 's music is either lengthy or technically difficult ; for example , many of the Op. 31 Préludes and of the set of Esquisses , Op. 63 . 
   Moreover , in terms of structure , Alkan in his compositions sticks to traditional musical forms , although he often took them to extremes , as he did with piano technique . The study Op. 39 , no . 8 ( the first movement of the Concerto for solo piano ) takes almost half an hour in performance . Describing this " gigantic " piece , Ronald Smith comments that it convinces for the same reasons as does the music of the classical masters ; " the underlying unity of its principal themes , and a key structure that is basically simple and sound . " 
   Some of Alkan 's music gives hints of the obsessiveness which some have detected in his personality . The Chant Op. 38 , no . 2 , entitled Fa , repeats the note of its title incessantly ( in total 414 times ) against shifting harmonies which make it " cut ... into the texture with the ruthless precision of a laser beam . " In modelling his five sets of Chants on the first book of Mendelssohn 's Songs Without Words , Alkan ensured that the pieces in each of his sets followed precisely the same key signatures , and even the moods , of the original . Alkan was rigorous in his enharmonic spelling , occasionally modulating to keys containing double @-@ sharps or double @-@ flats , so pianists are occasionally required to come to terms with unusual keys such as E @-@ sharp major , enharmonic equivalent to F major , and the occasional triple @-@ sharp . 
   
   = = = Works = = = 
   
   
   = = = = Early works = = = = 
   
   Alkan 's earliest works indicate , according to Smith , that in his early teens he " was a formidable musician but as yet ... industrious rather than ... creative " . Only with his 12 Caprices ( Opp.12 – 13 and 15 – 16 , 1837 ) did his compositions begin to attract serious critical attention . The op . 15 set , Souvenirs : Trois morceaux dans le genre pathétique , dedicated to Liszt , contains Le vent ( The Wind ) , which was at one time the only piece by the composer to figure regularly in recitals . These works , however , did not meet with the approval of Robert Schumann , who wrote : " One is startled by such false , such unnatural art ... the last [ piece , titled Morte ( Death ) , is ] a crabbed waste , overgrown with brush and weeds ... nothing is to be found but black on black " . Ronald Smith , however , finds in this latter work , which cites the Dies Irae theme also used by Berlioz , Liszt and others , foreshadowings of Maurice Ravel , Modest Mussorgsky and Charles Ives . Schumann did , however , respond positively to the pieces of Les mois ( originally part published as Op. 8 in 1838 , later published as a complete set in 1840 as Op. 74 ) : " [ Here ] we find such an excellent jest on operatic music in no . 6 [ L 'Opéra ] that a better one could scarcely be imagined ... The composer ... well understands the rarer effects of his instrument . " Alkan 's technical mastery of the keyboard was asserted by the publication in 1838 of the Trois grandes études ( originally without opus number , later republished as Op. 76 ) , the first for the left hand alone , the second for the right hand alone , the third for both hands ; and all of great difficulty , described by Smith as " a peak of pianistic transcendentalism " . This is perhaps the earliest example of writing for a single hand as " an entity in its own right , capable of covering all registers of the piano , of rendering itself as accompanied soloist or polyphonist . " 
   
   = = = = Early maturity = = = = 
   
   Alkan 's large scale Duo ( in effect a sonata ) Op. 21 for violin and piano ( dedicated to Chrétien Urhan ) and his Piano Trio Op. 30 appeared in 1841 . Apart from these , Alkan published only a few minor works between 1840 and 1844 , after which a series of virtuoso works was issued , many of which he had played at his successful recitals at Érard and elsewhere ; these included the Marche funèbre ( Op. 26 ) , the Marche triomphale ( Op. 27 ) and Le chemin de fer ( also published , separately , as Op. 27 ) . In 1847 appeared the Op. 31 Préludes and his first large @-@ scale unified piano work , the Grande sonate Les quatre âges ( Op. 33 ) . The sonata is structurally innovative in two ways ; each movement is slower than its predecessor , and the work anticipates the practice of progressive tonality , beginning in D major and ending in G @-@ sharp minor . Dedicated to Alkan Morhange , the sonata depicts in its successive movements its ' hero ' at the ages of 20 ( optimistic ) , 30 ( " Quasi @-@ Faust " , impassioned and fatalistic ) , 40 ( domesticated ) and 50 ( suffering : the movement is prefaced by a quotation from Aeschylus 's Prometheus Unbound ) . In 1848 followed Alkan 's set of 12 études dans tous les tons majeurs Op. 35 , whose substantial pieces range in mood from the hectic Allegro barbaro ( no . 5 ) and the intense Chant d 'amour @-@ Chant de mort ( Song of Love – Song of Death ) ( no . 10 ) to the descriptive and picturesque L 'incendie au village voisin ( The Fire in the Next Village ) ( no . 7 ) . 
   A number of Alkan 's compositions from this period were never performed and have been lost . Among the missing works are some string sextets and a full @-@ scale orchestral symphony in B minor , which was described in an article in 1846 by the critic Léon Kreutzer , to whom Alkan had shown the score . Kreutzer noted that the introductory adagio of the symphony was headed " by Hebrew characters in red ink ... This is no less than the verse from Genesis : And God said , Let there be light : and there was light . " Kreutzer opined that , set beside Alkan 's conception , Joseph Haydn 's Creation was a " mere candle ( lampion ) . " 
   
   = = = = Internal exile = = = = 
   
   During his twenty @-@ year absence from the public between 1853 and 1873 Alkan produced many of his most notable compositions , although there is a ten @-@ year gap between publication of the Op. 35 studies and that of his next group of piano works in 1856 and 1857 . Of these , undoubtedly the most significant was the enormous Opus 39 collection of twelve studies in all the minor keys , which contains the Symphony for Solo Piano ( numbers four , five , six and seven ) , and the Concerto for Solo Piano ( numbers eight , nine and ten ) . The Concerto takes nearly an hour in performance . Number twelve of Op. 39 is a set of variations , Le festin d 'Ésope ( Aesop 's Feast ) . The other components of Op. 39 are of a similar stature . Smith describes Op. 39 as a whole as " a towering achievement , gathering ... the most complete manifestation of Alkan 's many @-@ sided genius : its dark passion , its vital rhythmic drive , its pungent harmony , its occasionally outrageous humour , and , above all , its uncompromising piano writing . " 
   In the same year appeared the Sonate de Concert , Op. 47 , for cello and piano , " among the most difficult and ambitious in the romantic repertoire ... anticipating Mahler in its juxtaposition of the sublime and the trivial " , and with its four movements showing again an anticipation of progressive tonality , each ascending by a major third . Other anticipations of Mahler ( who was born in 1860 ) can be found in the two " military " Op. 50 piano studies of 1859 Capriccio alla soldatesca and Le tambour bat aux champs ( The drum beats the retreat ) , as well as in certain of the miniatures of the 1861 Esquisses , Op. 63 . The bizarre and unclassifiable Marcia funebre , sulla morte d 'un Pappagallo ( Funeral march on the death of a parrot , 1859 ) , for three oboes , bassoon and voices , described by Kenneth Hamilton as " Monty @-@ Pythonesque " , is also of this period . 
   The Esquisses of 1861 are a set of highly varied miniatures , ranging from the tiny 18 @-@ bar no . 4 , Les cloches ( The Bells ) , to the strident tone clusters of no . 45 , Les diablotins ( The Imps ) , and closing with a further evocation of church bells in no . 49 , Laus Deo ( Praise God ) . They were preceded in publication by Alkan 's deceptively titled Sonatine , Op. 61 , in ' classical ' format , but a work of " ruthless economy [ which ] although it plays for less than twenty minutes ... is in every way a major work . " 
   Two of Alkan 's substantial works from this period are musical paraphrases of literary works . Salut , cendre du pauvre , Op. 45 ( 1856 ) , follows a section of the poem La Mélancolie by Gabriel @-@ Marie Legouvé ; while Super flumina Babylonis , Op. 52 ( 1859 ) , is a blow @-@ by @-@ blow recreation in music of the emotions and prophecies of Psalm 137 ( " By the waters of Babylon ... " ) . This piece is prefaced by a French version of the psalm which is believed to be the sole remnant of Alkan 's Bible translation . Alkan 's lyrical side was displayed in this period by the five sets of Chants inspired by Mendelssohn , which appeared between 1857 and 1872 , as well as by a number of minor pieces . 
   Alkan 's publications for organ or pédalier commenced with his Benedictus , Op. 54 ( 1859 ) . In the same year he published a set of very spare and simple preludes in the eight Gregorian modes ( 1859 , without opus number ) , which , in Smith 's opinion , " seem to stand outside the barriers of time and space " , and which he believes reveal " Alkan 's essential spiritual modesty . " These were followed by pieces such as the 13 Prières ( Prayers ) , Op. 64 ( 1865 ) , and the Impromptu sur le Choral de Luther " Un fort rempart est notre Dieu " , op . 69 ( 1866 ) . Alkan also issued a book of 12 studies for the pedalboard alone ( no opus number , 1866 ) and the Bombardo @-@ carillon for pedalboard duet ( four feet ) of 1872 . 
   Alkan 's return to the concert platform at his Petits Concerts , however , marked the end of his publications ; his final work to be issued was the Toccatina , Op. 75 , in 1872 . 
   
   = = Reception and legacy = = 
   
   Alkan had few followers ; however , he had important admirers , including Liszt , Anton Rubinstein , Franck , and , in the early twentieth century , Busoni , Petri and Sorabji . Rubinstein dedicated his fifth piano concerto to him , and Franck dedicated to Alkan his Grand pièce symphonique op . 17 for organ . Busoni ranked Alkan with Liszt , Chopin , Schumann and Brahms as one of the five greatest composers for the piano since Beethoven . Isidor Philipp and Delaborde edited new printings of his works in the early 1900s . In the first half of the twentieth century , when Alkan 's name was still obscure , Busoni and Petri included his works in their performances . Sorabji published an article on Alkan in his 1932 book Around Music ; he promoted Alkan 's music in his reviews and criticism , and his Sixth Symphony for Piano ( Symphonia claviensis ) ( 1975 – 76 ) , includes a section entitled Quasi Alkan . The English composer and writer Bernard van Dieren praised Alkan in an essay in his 1935 book , Down Among the Dead Men , and the composer Humphrey Searle also called for a revival of his music in a 1937 essay . 
   For much of the 20th century , Alkan 's work remained in obscurity , but from the 1960s onwards it was steadily revived . Raymond Lewenthal gave a pioneering extended broadcast on Alkan on WBAI radio in New York in 1963 , and later included Alkan 's music in recitals and recordings . The English pianist Ronald Smith championed Alkan 's music through performances , recordings , a biography and the Alkan Society of which he was president for many years . Works by Alkan have also been recorded by Jack Gibbons , Marc @-@ André Hamelin , Mark Latimer , John Ogdon , and Hüseyin Sermet , among many others . Ronald Stevenson has composed a piano piece Festin d 'Alkan ( referring to Alkan 's Op. 39 , no . 12 ) and the composer Michael Finnissy has also written piano pieces referring to Alkan , e.g. Alkan @-@ Paganini , no . 5 of The History of Photography in Sound . Marc @-@ André Hamelin 's Étude No . IV is a moto perpetuo study combining themes from Alkan 's Symphony , Op. 39 , no . 7 , and Alkan 's own perpetual motion étude , Op. 76 , no . 3 . It is dedicated to Averil Kovacs and François Luguenot , respectively activists in the English and French Alkan Societies . As Hamelin writes in his preface to this étude , the idea to combine these came from the composer Alistair Hinton , the finale of whose Piano Sonata No. 5 ( 1994 – 95 ) includes a substantial section entitled " Alkanique " . 
   Alkan 's compositions for organ have been among the last of his works to be brought back to the repertoire . As to Alkan 's pedal @-@ piano works , due to a recent revival of the instrument , they are once again being performed as originally intended ( rather than on an organ ) , such as by Italian pedal @-@ pianist Roberto Prosseda , and recordings of Alkan on the pedal piano have been made by Jean Dubé and Olivier Latry . 
   
   = = Selected recordings = = 
   
   This list comprises a selection of some premiere and other recordings by musicians who have become closely associated with Alkan 's works . A comprehensive discography is available at the Alkan Society website . 
   Piano Trio , Op. 30 – played by Trio Alkan . Recorded 1992 . Naxos , 8555352 ( 2001 ) 
   Grande sonate , Op. 33 – played by Marc @-@ André Hamelin ( piano ) . Recorded 1994 . Hyperion , CDA669764 ( 1995 ) . 
   Études dans tous les tons mineurs , Op. 39 – played by Ronald Smith ( piano ) . Recorded 1977 . EMI , SLS 5100 [ 3 LPs ] ( 1978 ) , partly reissued EMI Gemini , 585 4842 ( 2003 ) 
   Études dans tous les tons mineurs , Op. 39 and other works – played by Jack Gibbons ( piano ) . Recorded 1995 . ASV , CD DCS 227 [ 2 CDs ] ( 1995 ) 
   Concerto , Op. 39 , nos . 8 – 10 – played by John Ogdon ( piano ) . Recorded 1969 . RCA , LSC @-@ 3192 [ LP ] ( 1972 ) . Great British Pianists , 4569132 ( 1999 ) 
   Le festin d 'Esope ( Op. 39 , no . 12 ) and other works – played by Raymond Lewenthal . Recorded 1966 . RCA LM 2815 [ LP mono ] , LSC @-@ 2815 [ LP stereo ] ; BMG High Performance Series 633310 ( 1999 ) 
   Sonate de concert , Op. 47 , for cello and piano – played by Steven Osborne ( piano ) and Alban Gebhart ( cello ) . Recorded 2008 . Hyperion CDA67624 ( 2008 ) . 
   11 Pièces dans le style religieux , et une transcription du Messie de Hændel , Op. 72 – played by Kevin Bowyer ( organ ) . Recorded 2005 . Toccata TOCC 0031 ( 2007 ) 
   Symphony for Solo Piano ( Op. 39 , no . 4 @-@ 7 ) – played by Egon Petri ( piano ) . c . 1952 – 53 . Symposium Records , CD 1145 ( 1993 ) 
   
   = = = About Alkan = = = 
   
   Alkan Society , including complete and regularly updated discography 
   Alkan web site of Sylvain Chosson , contains detailed listing of Alkan 's works , with some downloadable scores 
   " The Myths of Alkan " by Jack Gibbons 
   Unriddling Alkan by David Conway 
   Alkan @-@ Zimmerman International Music Association 
   Pictures of Alkan 
   
   = = = Scores and sheet @-@ music = = = 
   
   Free Alkan scores and manuscripts – site of Sylvain Chosson 
   Kunst der Fuge : many of Alkan 's piano works in MIDI performances 
   Alkan Piano Trio @-@ Discussion of work and soundbites 
   www.kreusch @-@ sheet @-@ music.net – Free Scores by Alkan 
   Free scores by Alkan at the International Music Score Library Project 
   
   = = = Performances on the Web = = = 
   
   Trois Andantes Romantiques , Op. 13 , No 2 on YouTube , played by Lloyd Buck 
   Scherzo Focoso , Op. 34 on YouTube , played by Lloyd Buck 
   " Allegro Barbaro " , Op. 35 , No. 5 on YouTube , played by Jack Gibbons 
   Menuet , Symphonie , Op. 39 , No. 6 on YouTube , played by Jonathan Powell 
   Last movement , Symphonie , Op. 39 , No. 7 on YouTube , played by Jonathan Powell 
   First movement , Concerto , Op. 39 , No. 8 on YouTube , played by Jack Gibbons 
   Le Festin d 'Ésope , Op. 39 , no . 12 on YouTube , played by Edward Cohen 
   Four Esquisses from Op. 63 on YouTube , played by Edward Cohen 
   " Trois anciennes mélodies de la synagogue " and " Sicut cerva " on YouTube - Klára Kolonits ( soprano ) and Daniel Dinyes ( piano ) 
   