Since I am not very familiar with Charles ALkan(1813-1888), I will briefly give his biographical background. He was a French-Jewish composer who was friends with both Liszt and Chopin. Like Liszt, he not only was one of the greatest virtuoso pianists at the beginning of the nineteenth century but also wrote études to explore different kinds of technical difficulty on the piano. Although several prominent composers, such as Arthur Rubenstein, Claude Debussy, and Maurice Ravel, admired and studied his music, his works are often neglected and failed to blossom after his death in 1888. Interest in his music began to revive in the 1960s.
Alkan’s Le Festin d’Esope, Op. 39, No. 12 is “the final work in the Douze Études dans Tous les Tons Mineurs (Twelve Studies in all Minor Keys) cycle.” He wrote a total of twenty-five variations based on the theme” (Wikipedia, 2009). Personally, I think this set of variations equals—if not surpasses—the Transcendental Études of Liszt in difficulty. This work was published in 1857, six years after Liszt published his Grandes Études de Paganini. Was Alkan responding to Liszt’s études? I suppose this may be something for the class to consider and discuss, perhaps to compare the études’ composition styles of the two composers.
A sense of grim humor definitely is heard when one first listens to this piece. Each variation is different, from playful to profoundly dark. A spectrum of emotion is explored throughout these variations. What interests me most is that, in some of the variations, one can hear the thick and heavy chords creating a powerful drive, while at same time a glitter of innocent, light resonance is also evident. In other words, the music almost resembles a dispute between a child and his or her father. The last variation brings to mind the last variation in Schumann’s Symphonic Études, Op. 3, which has a similar dotted rhythm, texture, and a notably triumphant character. I conclude that the aggressive, powerful force wins at the end in this piece.
This is a work of outstanding genius!
Now I would like to share my own thoughts regarding portions of this work:
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