It annoys me when people only talk about technique in Alkan video's. A French composer, Vincent d'Indy, who had heard both Liszt and Alkan, actually said Alkan was no Liszt - less technically perfect - but that he played much more expressive. Actually, most people in the day of Alkan were amazed not so much, or not just, by his technique, but by the emotion in his playing. I don't care whether Alkan's music is difficult to play, I do care about the fact that it's very good music.
@p-y8210
4 жыл бұрын
Well liszt said that alkan possesed the finest technique he had ever seen.
@hadrieneverard8121
3 жыл бұрын
Same thing can be said about Liszt honestly
@pubgplayer1720
3 жыл бұрын
It's not great music. No where near the level of Liszt or Chopin.
@hadrieneverard8121
3 жыл бұрын
@@pubgplayer1720 who are you to say that his music is bad ?
@SeigneurReefShark
3 жыл бұрын
@@pubgplayer1720 ok Indian pubg player
@charlessmith263
9 жыл бұрын
I am a composer myself, and I grew up with composing my original compositions that were in the style of such great Romantics like Liszt or even Chopin, as well as avant-garde composers too. So for this "Symphonie", I am picturing that Charles Alkan was visualizing this: "You do not have a live orchestra, you probably know Beethoven's orchestration in his symphonies, and this is the Romantic period. How would you use only the piano to imitate a symphony orchestra doing a full symphony in 4 movements? Things like the thunder of the tympani, the doubling of the octaves in the strings, conflicts between strong beats and syncopations, antiphony between winds and strings (or vice verse), the strong ringing of the brass section, clashes between "fortissimo tutti" and "quiet winds"---something like that." Especially for the 1st movement, I think Alkan made a good visualization of that and hence the title he gave was "symphonie". Perfect for him (or "parfait pour lui")!
@PianoScoreVids
12 жыл бұрын
One of Alkans best endings imo. And staccato at 8:35 is another reason why its so typical "alkanesque" :)
@pianoprodigy987
11 жыл бұрын
Alkan was a recluse, and almost never left Paris for the entirety of his life. Therefore, no kind of Lisztomania could have developed around him. And anti-Semitism in Paris had denied him many teaching opportunities, as well as a position at the Conservatoire, which, along with the death of Chopin, caused another reclusion in the great composers life. He continued to write and publish music, but his existence wasn't really acknowledged again until he died. He never got the fame he deserved.
@brandonmacey964
4 жыл бұрын
pianoprodigy987 nobody deserves fame. It’s a curse.
@SeigneurReefShark
3 жыл бұрын
Yes. Fame is bad, however he deserves recognition, a lot of recognition, but not fame
@SamuraiSx19
2 жыл бұрын
even more, German musicologists had led in music at the end of XIX c and they practically glorified specific composers attributed to their ground. Alkan also wasn't in good ties with Paris Conservatoire and all those on top of classical education, since he fell to receive a position as the head of the piano department due to tension with the pianists there. Also there has been according to his letters, some turns that had struck him (died his dear person, speculation that it was his girlfriend), and Chopin's death followed soon which also had an impact on him. Many factors at that time decided unfortunately that Alkan could be just forgotten, if not for some pianists who started to dig about him in XX century.
@MrFartyman44
7 жыл бұрын
The scale runs at the end are so awesome
@X.00896
12 жыл бұрын
If you believe what Liszt said about him, Alkan probably had just about the best technique of any pianist in history.
@madlovba3
11 жыл бұрын
This recording is from the Aspen Music Festival on 25 June, 2009.
@paulmcguire1522
7 жыл бұрын
It is believed to have been said at the time that Alkan wrote music that only he could play - some regarded it as unplayable!
@hayley4494
2 жыл бұрын
Crazy music but I love the powerful strength that this piece has.
@RitchieDiamond
11 жыл бұрын
while I agree that Alkan may sometimes not be the best of composers, he did compose quite a collection of *very* memorable melodies and used them effectively to produce great atmospheres...
@andremileu7083
2 жыл бұрын
Well said
@hjiuhfhrehui
12 жыл бұрын
hell yeah. i love that staccato part. its so firm and strong !. so exciting and beautifful piece
@PianoScoreVids
12 жыл бұрын
9:13 148 notes in about 3 seconds Badass alkan :)
@atee12321
11 жыл бұрын
Alkan's main strength is originality. His pieces are unusual and rarely can someone hear Alkan's music and say "That sounds like -insert another composer-". Alkan's not for everyone because of this and the overall bizarre ideas he had, but transcribing is not very Alkan-esque. He didn't transcribe many pieces, and I think it's for the better: he may be less known, but at least he's the highly original, eccentric and imaginative Alkan many people have grown to love.
@ohadnativ
3 жыл бұрын
I actually find a lot of Alkan sounds somewhat derivative of Mendelssohn...
@alexperez1078
3 жыл бұрын
@@ohadnativ I have never seen anyone point out that about Alkan, but it is indeed very true.
@happypiano4810
2 жыл бұрын
@@ohadnativ Absolutely. Especially with his own songs (like op 38, or 65), which are without a doubt his attempt to imitate him.
@bifeldman
5 жыл бұрын
Marvelous.
@hjiuhfhrehui
12 жыл бұрын
i see your from the neteherlands :D. me 2 ^^. and i agree with you.
@zswu31416
3 жыл бұрын
Wow, a false picardy third, very rare
@jerdawg553
11 жыл бұрын
Every time I listen to Alkan, I get depressed, experience resilience, and bring myself back all within the span of a few minutes.
@EmilianoManna
12 жыл бұрын
The... last... chord *____*
@EmuwuNora
12 жыл бұрын
Seemingly there's a huge Dutch Alkan 'fanbase'. As for I am Dutch as well.
@EmuwuNora
12 жыл бұрын
Yeah there was only one pianist that could even make Liszt nervous, and that was Alkan. Liszt stated himself that Alkan had a surperior piano technique and so did basically anyone around him.
@charlesdavis7087
2 жыл бұрын
If I want music that's pretensions in the extreme, I'll listen to one of Liszt's transcendental etudes. I like those etudes just about as much as Clara Schumann once did.
@Musicaespressivo
11 жыл бұрын
Do you have details of when and where this concert was? It sounds like it was done after the recording. Hamelin is generally better live than in the studio, although here he is uncharacteristically sloppy, although more expressive and interesting.
@mul8045
2 жыл бұрын
And people say that Hamelin is not expressive...
@MrJHodkinson
11 жыл бұрын
What are you on?
@datruzepp
12 жыл бұрын
ahahahah da final fury!!!!
@atee12321
11 жыл бұрын
My bad :)
@s1earle
9 күн бұрын
Very sloppy, rushes by his fabulous technique however even in YT recordings he seems to rush his rendition, to the extent of being missed in certain passages, even tempos are seldom correct.
@BankruptMonkey
10 жыл бұрын
I generally hate classical piano music, as it all feels so, hmm, repetitive? Similar to all the other pieces? Something like that. That's why I always appreciate Alkan's work. And I always have a soft spot for eccentric types :)
@ebn7722
9 жыл бұрын
BankruptMonkey You sure will hate classical music if you always listen to what "classical" canonic music is nowadays. To say that before classical music was among the most importants things in our society...
@happypiano4810
2 жыл бұрын
I always found Alkan to be a bit repetitive and obsessive. I like that though, he’s my favorite.
@JG_1998
Жыл бұрын
@@happypiano4810 Agreed, Alkan is ruthlessly obsessive in the same way as Beethoven. That's part of what makes his music awesome.
@charlesdavis7087
4 жыл бұрын
Much to do about nothing.
@GUILLOM
4 жыл бұрын
Ok
@hadrieneverard8121
2 жыл бұрын
bother to elaborate ?
@charlesdavis7087
2 жыл бұрын
@@hadrieneverard8121 I'll probably get into trouble, but I've listened to Mr. Hamelin's works on a number of occasion and it seemingly always adds up to the same thing. Namely, his music reminds me of the music they used to play during the "silent movies." That's what I meant about "much to do about nothing." I've been a musician (piano and organ) for 70 years. As I'm sure you know there's a vast difference between background music and foreground music. Do you remember Snidely Whiplash... and the speeding train as it barreled down upon our darling, Polly Pureheart? This kind of music has its place. (as background music)
@charlesdavis7087
2 жыл бұрын
I meant to say Alkan's music not Hamlin's.
@necpmf
10 жыл бұрын
lol I wish Hamelin would chill out on the rubato a bit. I don't think it suits the piece very well, especially considering it's called a Symphony.
@andrewbarrett1537
5 жыл бұрын
necpmf Symphonies never had rubato?
@calebhu6383
5 жыл бұрын
Andrew Barrett They did, but not nearly as much as a pianist could give to the music.
@damiangilz
11 жыл бұрын
This piece shows us how Alkan had a lot of piano skills... however his composition skills were so much lacking. I believe he should had better done what Thalberg did... pretty much creating piano transcriptions of famous operas at the time.
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