Alkan was a prodigy. He entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of six, where he studied both piano and organ. His teachers included Joseph Zimmermann, who also taught Bizet, Franck, Gounod, and Thomas.

In his twenties, he played concerts in elegant social circles and taught piano. His friends included Liszt and Chopin, George Sand, and Victor Hugo. By the age of twenty-four, he had built a reputation as one of the great virtuoso pianists of his day, rivalling Liszt and Thalberg. And then he withdrew into private study, with only occasional forays into the limelight, for the remainder of his life. In spite of his early fame and technical acomplishment, he spent most of his life in obscurity, performing in public only occasionally. There are periods of his life about which little is known, other than that he was immersed in the study of Bible and Talmud.

Alkan seems to have had few followers. One composer who does appear to continue Alkan's direction is Sorabji, although Sorabji claimed that his model was Busoni. Alkan had admirers, among them Busoni and Anton Rubinstein, who dedicated a concerto to him.

He wrote almost exclusively for the piano, as did Chopin. His most important works are the Grande Sonate "Les Quatre Ages" (opus 33) and the two sets of Etudes in all the major and minor keys (opus 35 and opus 39). These last match even the Transcendental Etudes of Liszt in scale and difficulty. Three movements of opus 39 together form the Concerto for Solo Piano, which takes nearly an hour to play and presents the greatest challenges to the performer.

Alkan's music is very complex, exciting, and challenging to both the performer and, to a lesser degree, the listener. Difficulty in these works sometimes appears to be present for its own sake. While his music often has the energy and density of Liszt, it is somewhat less agreeable.

For many years after his death, Alkan's work was almost completely forgotten. There has been a steady revival of interest in his compositions over the course of the twentieth century. Some of the most capable pianists of today are playing and recording his works.

• Raymond Lewenthal, The Piano Music of Alkan
  Schirmer, 1964.
• Brigitte Francois-Sappey, ed., Charles-Valentin Alkan
  Fayard (Paris) 1991.
• Ronald Smith, Alkan, Volume One: The Enigma
  Kahn & Averill (London) 1976.
• Ronald Smith, Alkan, Volume Two: The Music
  Kahn & Averill (London) or Taplinger, 1987.
• Alkan, Le Festin d'Esope and Other Works for Solo Piano
  Selected and with Introductory Notes by Marc-André Hamelin.
  Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola, New York, 1998. ISBN: 0486400662
  Contains the Symphonie (Op. 39, Nos. 4 - 7), Concerto (Op. 39, Nos. 8 - 10), Le Festin d'Esope (Op. 39, No. 12), Saltarelle (Op. 23), Barcarolle (Op. 65 No. 6) and Toccatina (Op. 75).

Societies

The Alkan Society
Nicholas King, Secretary
42 St Alban's Hill
Hemel Hempstead
Hertfordshire HP3 9NG (England)

La Societe Alkan
145, rue de Saussure
75017 Paris (France)

Selected recordings

The best performances of Alkan are on the recent

discs with Marc-André Hamelin.

Other sites

Steve Smythe has a nice essay on Alkan.

Credits

• Thanks to Vincent Chow for helpful additions to the discography.
• Thanks to Ms. Averil Kovacs of the Alkan Societies for corrections and recommended recordings.
• And thanks to Mark Starr for correcting Alkan's name, and for news of the Alkan Societies.