 The biographer of Chopin , Frederick <unk> , sought Alkan for his <unk> in 1880 but was <unk> 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 <unk> writes of their meeting that " his reception of me was not merely polite but most friendly . " 
