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The Best of Alkan: Greatest Works by French Pianist
Classical Echoes – 16 November 2024
Quick Overview
The 19th-century music is known for its passion and self-expression. The Romantic era brought us some of the most loved tunes in music. You probably think about Chopin’s nocturnes, Liszt’s transcendental etudes, or Brahms’s symphonies and Hungarian dances.
While among these famous names, Charles Valentin Alkan is much lesser known and is recognized only by true piano music experts.
A French-Jewish pianist, a child prodigy and piano virtuoso, described by Liszt as “His talent frightens me,” who was a close friend of the elite of the era like Victor Hugo and F. Chopin, seems to have been left apart from eternal fame.
Even though so few of his works are known, he truly is an extraordinary and interesting composer. In today’s blog post, I will share some of his most astonishing, passionate, and beautiful works that you have to hear at least once in a lifetime!
4. Grande Sonate: Les Quatre Âges
Similarly to Liszt, it’s Alkan’s only piano sonata. It depicts a man in four ages: in his 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s. It was published in 1847 and consists of four movements.
Even though Alkan was only in his early 40s, the last movement, which depicts a man in his 50s, was dedicated to his father, Alkan Morhange, who died eight years later.
Despite it is named a sonata, it has a very unusual structure and uncommon musical techniques. All four movements start in different, remotely related keys and gradually become slower. For example, the D major 20s movement is marked as très vite (very fast), while the last, in G-sharp minor, is marked Prométhée enchaîné (Prometheus Bound), which depicts a man looking toward death.
Despite the sonata not having widespread performances and remaining unknown to the public, like many of Alkan’s pieces, it still had a big impact on famous pianists of the time. It is believed that this sonata is interconnected with the much more famous Liszt’s B minor sonata, which could have been inspired by Alkan’s work.
M. Hamelin plays Alkan’s Sonata (yt. AnExarion)
3. Nocturne in B Major, Op. 22
Those who think that Alkan wrote just virtuosic noise have to listen to this piece – an uncommonly peaceful and incredibly beautiful work by Alkan, shaping the Romanticism in his music.
Written in 1840 by a young Alkan in a set of early nocturnes, it is dedicated to a woman called Elisa Poussielgue. It has a very delicate touch and gentle ornamentation, making it quite unusual for Alkan.
The main theme is composed of a lyrical subject with long legato lines. It starts with a simple and dreamy melody, then makes a wonderful transition into a minor tone, bringing back the main theme consequently. Throughout the piece, the melody is repeated in variations and includes many beautiful ornamentations that even Chopin could learn from.
There are no climaxes or unexpected shifts in the piece, making it more dreamy and tender. It depicts the life of a young Alkan, his reclusive and melancholic character, but also his wide and kind soul.
As Liszt said about the second movement of the Moonlight Sonata, Alkan’s nocturne is “a flower between chasms.”
Hamelin plays Alkan’s op. 22 (yt. madlovba3)
See Also:
2. Piano Trio in G Minor
One of the few non-solo piano pieces written by Charles Alkan. The Piano Trio in G minor was published in 1841 and received positive reaction from the high musical society in Paris, while still being unknown to the wider audience.
Alkan composed the piano trio in his 20s, one of the most prolific periods of his life. He was already known as an outstanding pianist and performer at the time. In light of growing popularity, he decided to demonstrate more of his abilities as a composer, involving instruments besides solo piano.
The work was performed in front of a very small audience, consisting generally of musicologists and aristocratic musical fans.
The key instrument of the trio remains the piano, including virtuosic passages and cadenzas, all in Alkan’s style. Nevertheless, his usage of cellos and violas to emphasize the theme of the piece and build up complex harmonies is still very stunning.
It was described by one of the musicologists as a piece that has “Mendelssohn’s lightness, Beethoven’s truculence, and Haydn’s rhythmical fantasy.” This is a perfect example of Alkan as a wide-range composer, not just a piano virtuoso.
Piano Trio in G minor (yt. Pentameron)
12 Études All in Minor Keys
The remaining pieces in this list will be part of Alkan’s set of 12 études all in minor keys. This collection is, without any doubt, Alkan’s cornerstone work in his musical career, like Bach’s Mass in B Minor or Goethe’s Faust.
It was published in 1857 and had an impressive impact on the audience due to its size, technical difficulty, and complexity. It was the first major work by Alkan after almost a 10-year reclusion from 1848 to 1857.
His disappearance from the scene was caused by many factors: the French Revolution of 1848, which destroyed the musical life of Paris, the death of Chopin, and, as a result, the mistreating of his previous works, like the 12 études for major keys and his Grande Sonate.
The set marks the start of Alkan’s new period in his career and brings forth his new style. Some of the most well-known of his works are part of this set and depict all of his compositional and technical skills.
The work is outstanding, both in its magnitude and sound, which includes orchestra-like chords and passages seen, perhaps, only in Liszt’s transcriptions of Beethoven’s symphonies. It takes around 2 hours to perform and includes a stunning 274 pages of material.
We are going to dive deeper into some of the most remarkable études in the set.
V. Maltempo: an incredible performace of Alkan’s 12 ètudes in all minor keys
V. Le Festin d’Ésope
Le Festin d’Ésope, or Aesop’s Feast, is the final of the 12 études. It consists of 25 variations in E minor, where the main theme is repeated in all subsequent variations using diverse techniques that demand a high level of virtuosity from the performer.
According to legend, Aesop was Xanthus’s slave. One day, Xanthus ordered him to prepare a feast for his guests, consisting of every possible type of food. The task seemed impossible to complete, especially in such a short period, but Aesop had a solution.
The next day, he served a single dish: a well-cooked tongue. He explained that the tongue contains every taste ever experienced.
The 25 variations represent the variety of foods, with Alkan exploring different piano techniques and textures to illustrate this concept. The piece showcases Alkan’s incredible imagination and technical skill, creating diverse and vivid “flavors” of sound.
As with all the études, this one is a high challenge for the pianist, requiring mastery of fast octave passages and flying scales with left-hand accompaniment.
Despite its complexity, the piece is highly engaging and fun to listen to, with a charming and playful spirit and its technical brilliance.
Jack Gibbons plays Le Festin d’Esope
IV. En Rythme Molossique
The second étude in the set, written in D minor, is titled En Rythme Molossique. It is structured in rondo form with two main episodes. As the name suggests, the core idea of the piece lies in its rhythmic component.
The word molossique refers to a metrical foot used in ancient Greek and Latin poetry, consisting of three long syllables. The main theme in D minor is heroic and dramatic, reflecting Alkan’s fascination with the ancient heritage.
Alkan includes many classical techniques, such as double counterpoint in the second episode. The repetition of the main theme in the left hand has been compared to the third movement of Beethoven’s Tempest Sonata in D minor.
While it is simpler (yet still challenging) compared to other études in the set, Alkan focuses on powerful piano sound and rhythmic structure, making a piece sound both dramatic and powerful.
J. Gibbons plays Alkan’s Etude in D minor
III. Symphony for Solo Piano
A colossal work in piano music, the Symphony for Solo Piano spans four études (Nos. 4–7 in the set). It is often viewed and performed as a single, unified work, similar to the movements of a symphony or piano sonata.
The opening movement, written in C minor, is in sonata form and introduces a dramatic and intense main theme in left-hand octaves.
The second movement, titled Marche Funèbre (Funeral March), begins in F minor, the relative minor of the first movement. This deeply emotional piece was dedicated to Alkan’s father, who died in 1855, and was originally titled Marcia funebre sulla morte d’un Uomo da bene (Funeral March on the Death of a Good Man). Some musicologists have compared its style to the “Mahlerian grandeur” and Beethoven’s Eroica funeral march.
The third movement, a minuet in B-flat minor, maintains the symphonic character and contains thematic elements that tie back to the previous movements. It has an eerie quality, with passages that have been compared to the “witches’ dance” from Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique.
The final movement, marked Presto, brings the piece to a thrilling conclusion. It is full of climaxes and technically demanding passages, with fast octaves and insane chordal shifts at an extreme tempo.
Described as a “ride in hell,” this movement epitomizes Alkan’s intent to push the limits of human capability on the piano while achieving an orchestral sound.
The Symphony for Solo Piano embodies Alkan’s ability to create a balanced, well-structured, and highly imaginative work. Although the movements are in different keys, the piece remains well-structured, showcasing Alkan’s genius as both a composer and a pianist.
Hamelin performs Symphony for solo piano (yt. AnExarion)
II. Comme le Vent
Comme le Vent (Like the Wind) is the opening étude of the set, written in A minor. It spans over 23 pages of music but takes only about four minutes to perform due to its extreme speed and density of notes.
The piece is marked Prestissimamente, with a tempo of 160 beats per minute, and is written in the rare 2/16 time signature. Most of the passages consist of 32nd notes, making it nearly impossible to play at the indicated tempo.
Despite its velocity and technical demands, the piece has a surprisingly catchy melody. Alkan uses rapid notes to depict the flow of the wind, with left-hand octaves illustrating gusts. At the end, the wind calms down, and the piece concludes with funny decrescendo chords.
Here, Alkan experiments with musical expression, creating a unique and cheerful piece. It requires an extraordinary piano skills and stamina from the performer.
Maltempo plays Comme le Vent (yt. Badat Chess)
I. Concerto for solo piano
A behemoth piano concerto for a symphonic orchestra encapsulated for only piano. A three-part piece with a classical concerto structure, the concerto for solo piano takes more than 50 minutes to perform and requires absolute mastery from the pianist.
This is truly a key piece in the entire set. It begins in G-sharp minor and gradually progresses, ending in F-sharp minor. Alkan utilized all known techniques, with parts marked tutti (intended to be played by an orchestra) and solo for the piano. The first movement alone consists of more than 70 pages of material and takes nearly 30 minutes to play—more bars than Schubert’s B-flat Major Sonata or Beethoven’s Hammerklavier. Alkan ultimately decided he didn’t need to write a standard piano concerto and instead used a single piano to express all his ideas and musical perspectives. The piece combines Beethoven’s grandeur and complexity, Chopin’s sentimentality, and Liszt’s passion. The first movement of the piece was later orchestrated in 1872 by Karl Klindworth and was appreciated by Alkan himself. It is known that Alkan performed the first movement in front of an audience, conquering even the technically “impossible” passages. Despite Alkan’s low popularity, this concerto is a monumental work in piano music, demonstrating the possibilities of a piano and composer’s fantasy to create such a complex masterpiece.Hamelin performs Concerto for Solo piano
© Classical Echoes 2024