From his deathbed in October 1849, Frédéric Chopin bequeathed to one of his musician friends the method for piano he had been working on so that he could finish it. The chosen friend and recipient of this legacy was a pianist three years younger than Chopin. His name was Charles-Valentin Alkan, and he had been an extraordinary child prodigy who had entered the Paris Conservatory at the age of six, when the Polish musician was nine and could not imagine a future life in Paris.
The beginnings
Born in 1813 in the Jewish quarter of Paris to a musician father, Charles-Valentin Alkan got tired of winning first prizes at the Conservatory. The solfège was his first, at the age of seven. At eleven he won the piano prize; harmony at fourteen, and at twenty-one the organ prize. He quickly made a name for himself in the Parisian salons as a young and talented pianist, easily joining the intellectual circles in which Franz Liszt, Victor Hugo, Chopin, George Sand, and Délacroix were active. There was no shortage of evenings and recitals in which he was seen at the piano alongside Liszt or Chopin.
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| Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813 - 1888) |
But his markedly introverted nature drove him away from the madding crowd at age 25. The salons of Paris thus knew the first of his retreats. For the next 35 years, he appeared in public occasionally, albeit always back and forth. In 1853 he offered two highly acclaimed concerts. After this, despite his recognition and fame, the musician left the scene for the next twenty years, returning only in 1873 to offer six Petit Concerts in the halls of the Erard house.
Douze Études, opus 39 - Étude No 7
Little is known of Alkan's activity during his periods of seclusion, except that he read the Bible and, of course, composed like a man possessed. His catalog reached 76 opus numbers, mainly solo piano pieces, which claim superb technique. One of his most ambitious works is the set of Douze Études for piano, in all minor keys, from 1857. The twelve pieces comprise, in this order, a "symphony" (the first four), a "concerto for solo piano" (the next three), a theme with variations, an overture, and three independent pieces.
The Finale of the "concerto", Étude No. 7, is presented here.
The rendition is by Dutch pianist Bas Verheijden, recorded during a rehearsal.
