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PASCAL AMOYEL 15
Is there a religious or spiritual aspect in Alkan’s work?
Yes, his path was fairly similar to that of Liszt. As a young composer, Alkan was
light-hearted, a remarkable salon pianist admired by all.We don’t really knowwhy
he stopped playing one day, walled himself in silence, withdrew from musical life.
He was called a misanthrope; he translated verses from the Bible every day. With
Alkan, there was a real dichotomy between his world and the society at large.
He was also a great romantic; there is something in his creative
approach that attempts to encompass the absolute.
Yes, he was a romantic in many aspects, fascinated by the imaginary world, by
works from the past, by metaphysics, by nature. All these elements appear in his
Grande Sonate
for piano: a Faustian inspiration, a reflection on death, a formal
rigor. This work starts in a jubilatory tone and moves toward nothingness, at
progressively slower tempos with each movement, a desperate meditation that
translates the four ages of life: 20 years old, 30, 40 and 50. The final movement,
a desperate meditation influenced by Beethoven, inspired by Aeschylus’s
Prometheus Bound
, is unique in that it presents a real musical interpretation
of death. There is no salvation, as with Liszt. Some have written that this
movement could have been inspired by Job’s trials, a search for light that only
produces darkness. Toward the end of his life, Alkan, who aspired to compose
Jewish liturgical music, and regretted that he had not put the entire Bible to
music. In any case, he pushed musical composition very far, in a kind of perpetual
quest for meaning or essence, exploring the boundaries of harmony and sound.
Silence was also very important in his music; in this sense, he was mystical. There
are moments when nothing is happening musically, he is pondering an elsewhere.