Charles-Valentin Alkan  (1813 - 1888)  French - Jewish




List of Alkan's compositions


Biography

Charles-Valentin Alkan 



Etudes

Piano etudes (studies) are written to solve technical problems and challenge the technical abilities of the pianist.  The etudes of Carl Czerny, a student of Beethoven, are still used for training young pianists.   
Some of the most famous sets of etudes were composed by Frederick Chopin, Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann, Claude Debussy and Sergei Rachmaninoff.   

Alkan's 1857 set of twelve etudes (Op. 39), one in each minor keys, is extremely ambitious.  Within the etudes is a four movement Symphony for Piano and a three movement Concerto for Piano.
The Op. 39 etudes are sometimes considered Alkan's masterpiece. One musicologist said of them: "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."


Selected Alkan Piano Works

Douze études dans tous les tons mineurs (Twelve etudes in all minor keys) , op. 39 (1857)

        Vincent Maltempo, pianist  (2:10:40)  (play)


      No. 1    Comme le vent ("Like the wind") in A minor
      No. 2    En rhythme molossique ("In Molossian rhythm") in D minor
      No. 3    Scherzo diabolico ("Diabolic scherzo") in G minor

      No. 4    Symphony for solo piano: Allegro moderato in C minor
      No. 5    Symphony for solo piano: Marche funèbre (Andantino) in F minor
      No. 6    Symphony for solo piano: Menuet in B♭ minor
      No. 7    Symphony for solo piano: Finale (Presto) in E♭ minor

      No. 8    Concerto for solo piano: Allegro assai in G♯ minor
      No. 9    Concerto for solo piano: Adagio in C♯ minor
      No. 10  Concerto for solo piano: Allegretto alla barbaresca in F♯ minor

      No. 11  Ouverture in B minor
      No. 12  Le festin d'Ésope (Aesop's feast) in E minor

 


     Etude Op. 29 No. ?
          Vincenzo Maltempo, piano


     Etude Op. 29 No. ?



     Etude Op. 29 No. 12  Le festin d'Ésope (Aesop's feast) in E minor
           Yeol Eum Son, piano  (9:40, play)



    Trois Petites Fantaisies, Op. 41, José López, piano  (1857)  (17:30, play)


     Grande sonate 'Les quatre âges', Op. 33 (1847)  Marc-André Hamelin, piano  (11:13, play)  


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