Charles-Valentin Alkan

Charles-Valentin Alkan (November 30 1813–March 29 1888) was a French composer and one of the greatest virtuoso pianists of his day. His compositions for solo piano are among the most fiendishly difficult ever written and are relatively rarely performed.

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Life and career

Alkan was born Charles-Valentin Morhange to a Jewish family in Paris. He and his brothers used their father's first name, Alkan, as their last. Charles-Valentin Alkan spent his life in and around Paris, and died there, 74 years old.

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Alkan was a child prodigy. He entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of six, where he studied both piano and organ. His teachers included Joseph Zimmermann, who also taught Georges Bizet, C?sar Franck, Charles Gounod, and Ambroise Thomas. At the age of seven, he won a first prize for solfège, and at the age of nine, Luigi Cherubini described his technique and ability as extraordinary. His opus 1 dates from 1828, when he was 14 years old.

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In his twenties, he played concerts in elegant social circles and taught piano. His friends included Franz Liszt and Fr?d?ric Chopin, George Sand, and Victor Hugo. By the age of twenty-four, he had built a reputation as one of the great virtuoso pianists of his day, rivalling the other touring virtuoso composer-pianists of the day such as Sigismond Thalberg, Friedrich Kalkbrenner, and even Liszt. (Liszt once stated that Alkan had the most perfect technique he had ever seen.) Because of various personal problems and reverses, he then withdrew into private study, with only occasional forays back into the limelight, for the remainder of his life. In spite of his early fame and technical accomplishment, he spent most of his life in obscurity, performing in public only occasionally. There are periods of his life about which little is known, other than that he was immersed in the study of the Bible and the Talmud. Pianist Elie-Miriam Delaborde (1839–1913) is often considered to be his illegitimate son.

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A biography, Alkan: The man, the music (originally in two separate volumes), was written by pianist and Alkan champion Ronald Smith.

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Death

According to an often-repeated story, possibly apocryphal, Alkan died when a bookshelf collapsed on him in his home — apparently as he reached for a volume of the Talmud, which he had placed on the highest shelf, in the position closest to Heaven.

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1813: 1813 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar)....

March 29: March 29 is the 88th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (89th in Leap years). There are 277 days remaining....

1888: 1888 is a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). In Germany, 1888 is known as the 1888 Year of Three Emperors....

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