Charles Valentin Alkan (1813-1888)

Alkan was born in Paris in 1813 to a highly musical Jewish family. Clearly a child prodigy, Alkan entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 6 to study piano and organ. Joseph Zimmermann was among his teachers.

At 14 Alkan published his Opus 1 and by the time he was in his twenties, Alkan was considered a great virtuoso composer-pianist.

His circle of friends included Franz Liszt, Frederic Chopin, George Sand and Victor Hugo. For a while he performed concerts and taught piano before withdrawing from public life becoming something of a recluse. He immersed himself in study and composition and is known to have studied both the Bible and the Talmud. Only occasionally would he perform in public, although in his final decade he returned to perform concerts at the Erard Piano Showrooms. He spent virtually all of his life in and around Paris.

Alkan was known for his extraordinary ability and technique. His music is original, innovative and unconventional. His works are often considered demanding and difficult to play. Like Alkan the man, the works for keyboard and organ fell into obscurity following the composer’s death in 1888. Alkan is said to have had few followers, but among his admirers are Ferrucio Busoni and Anton Rubinstein. Alkan’s pupil, Elie-Miriam Delaborde, a gifted pianist and pedalier player, performed and edited many of Alkan’s works and is generally believed to be Alkan's illegitimate son.

Despite a long period of obscurity, the twentieth century has seen a revival of interest in Alkan’s compositions.