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14 CHARLES-VALENTINALKAN
Legend has it that Alkan’s work requires a daunting virtuosity; is
this true?
Yes, it is. And his work presents difficulties of all kinds. First of all, a virtuosity in the
fingering, which is always vertiginous, never gratuitous, with many wide spreads,
enormous movement, extremely rapid series of notes.
It is also a piece that often requires a great deal of physical and mental endurance.
His musical writing changes constantly, the repetitions are never identical and the
themes are often superimposed. Even though Alkan composed nearly exclusively
for piano, his vision of the piano goes far beyond the instrument itself. Indeed, he
also wrote a symphony for piano, a concerto for piano alone.
It’s important to note the Alkan was also a virtuoso in musical notation.
Sometimes, certain elements do not seem to be playable, in that there are somany
notations on the score. Like Beethoven, Alkan was meticulous, nearly maniacal.
He marked each tempo, indicated the changes, added an enormous amount
of information; his works are full of notes, the key signatures are often full, the
occasionally improbable fingering always linked to the musical intention, and the
tessitura extreme and wide-ranging between the high and low notes. His vision of
the pianowas quasi-symphonic. Alkanwas looking for orchestral, even unheard-of
effects. In fact, it is difficult and utterly fascinating to try to find the balance of the
Erard pianos on a modern instrument, which naturally and clearly translates the
simultaneous extreme tessiture that the composer loved.