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Revision as of 02:58, 10 April 2004 by Antandrus (talk | contribs) (fixits, a few more pieces)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813 - 1888) was a French pianist and composer. He was a contemporary of Chopin, performing with him at least once, and was an example of the 19th century phenomenon of the virtuouso performer-composer (some other examples being Franz Liszt, Niccolo Paganini, Friedrich Kalkbrenner, and Sigismond Thalberg) although he did not tour extensively as did these others. He also was acquainted with some of the leading literary and artistic figures in Paris at the time, including Alexandre Dumas, Eugene Delacroix, George Sand and Victor Hugo.
One of the most eccentric of composers, he occasionally had a spectacular public career, but inexplicably interrupted it with periods of unannounced withdrawal from public life. After the death of Chopin (1849) he became a virtual recluse, but continued sporadic public appearances. He published a large volume of work in one block in 1857. He died when a bookshelf collapsed on him in his home; evidently he was reaching for a volume of the Talmud, which he had placed on the highest shelf.
His music, mostly for piano, requires a dazzling and almost inhuman virtuosity to perform. One of his pieces most often heard today is the bizarre Marche funebre sulla morte d'un papagallo (Funeral March for a Parrot), for three oboes, bassoon and voices, which is one of his only non-piano works to survive. Another notable composition is his 12 etudes dans les tons mineurs (12 etudes in the minor keys), in which the component etudes comprise other longer pieces (for instance three together make up his "Concerto for Solo Piano" and another four make up a "Symphony for Solo Piano.") He also wrote a Grand Sonata (depicting the Four Ages of Man), a set of variations Aesop's Feast and a programmatic piece Le Chemin de fer (1844) which may be the earliest composition giving a musical picture of a railroad.
Music of Alkan is occasionally revived, and always causes some astonishment, not only for its staggering virtuosity but for its superb craftsmanship. He is buried in the Cimetiere de Montmarte, Paris.