The thing to remember with this piece, i honestly don't think the middle section is supposed to be romantic in the true sense, alkan was a recluse, a mysogynist, a misanthropist... perhaps he felt that nobody did love him, and the stunning scales and sheer drama of the piece were whis version of a cry out for someone to love him? the title of the piece is 'Love me' and when you think of someone saying that, it's different from 'I love you'. There is so much pent up emotion in this piece.
It is worth noting that this year will be held an ALKAN COMPETITION!!! on the memory of the great composer and his great master Zimmerman in Athens! It will be lots of fun and a meeting place for all Alkan enthusiasts!! :D
Just google alkan-zimmerman to get to the official site, youtube doesn't allow me to post links : )
Interesting how Alkan seems to return the theme of tragic unrequited love in the "Chant d'Amour - Chant de Mort". I guess you could say that he was trying to refine and condense his ideas expressed in the "Trois Morceaux" when writing it.
@domeyer What? It's only the relative minor of C-flat Major! :P
Charles-Valentin Alkan deserves much more recognition as a solo piano composer and an artist. For his time he really had a lot of ingenuity. I think he was ahead of a his time a bit. Just look at the notation. People still really have not done some of the things the way he did. It is fascinating to watch the notation of this music while listening.
Man, just imagine how much money Hamelin would earn if he were to be paid per notes that he played in his lifetime. Even if it were a penny, he would still be rich.
I'm tired of this nonsense about Alkan being underrated. He is, if anything, overrated by now. This piece for example is nothing but a Lied ohne Worter dressed up in ridiculous pianistic figurations that Mendelssohn wouldn't have bothered wasting time with.
All of Alkan's music sounds like Mendelssohn with whom he was apparently obsessed. I'd rather listen to one 2 minute Mendelssohn piece than this overwritten shit. There's about the same amount of musical thought involved.
@thegreatapologist I don't know, what are they teaching an effeminate young teenager like you in school? If you read the description of the piece, Ronald Smith says what needs to be said about it, even if he is being much nicer than he needs to be. And I don't know how I can offer "constructive criticism" to a man who has been dead since 1888, but if you know, please do tell. Maybe you don't know what constructive criticism is. What are they teaching in schools?
@AndrewFinch1 First of all, I'm not effeminate. You know nothing about whether I actually am or not, so why call me that? Secondly, what I was saying was that your comment can be boiled down to "Its dumb and to virtuosic." Neither of which are constructive and are therefore useless and insulting. Sure, the guys been dead, but there are composers today who would love to know what's good and what isn't in a piece. Constructive criticism is with an intent of helping, not being insulting.
@thegreatapologist Your videos reveal you to be effeminate. Look at the beginning of the piece, and then look at a Mendelssohn LoW. Then imagine Mendelssohn dressing it up and making it last 7 minutes too long. Extrapolate something. If that is how you boil down my comment, than that says something about you, not mee. And I would never say "to (sic) virtuosic". I said overwritten, and it is, both pianistically and thematically.
This music says says a lot of things. If it was just three minutes, everything would be jammed. And as for saying "something about you, not something about mee (sic)" that's what I took "ridiculous pianistic figurations" to mean.
If you think it's overwritten, then fine. Listen to whatever music you like. Meanwhile, I'll listen to music that's more developed then the time normally devoted to pop music.
@thegreatapologist What development? This is like a pastiche that goes on and on. I'm sorry, I don't equate length to development. A 12 bar Mozart development has more invention than Alkan's typical development, which usually consists of playing the same thing over and over in different keys or changing figurations. There is a reason Alkan isn't regarded as a great composer, and this piece is the epitome of why.
@AndrewFinch1 Umm, no. Just no. I have no idea where you are getting that from, but it's simply false.
And besides, this is not a sonata, but a free form programmatic piece. It's not intended to have the development of a sonata, but of a programmatic piece.
@thegreatapologist The reason this is 9 minutes long is fairly obvious. It is a failed attempt by Alkan to copy the structure of a ballade or fantasy by Chopin without having any of the necessary skill at manipulating themes or knowing how to tie disparate material together. This piece is a combination of Mendelssohnian themes mated to a Chopinian structure and padded with unimaginative but difficult to play pianistic forms. It is derivative, it is boring, it is typical Alkan.
@AndrewFinch1 Chopin's first Ballade was written one year earlier. As for Mendelssohn, Mendelssohn was in germany while Alkan was holed up in his parisian apartment, seen no one and listening to no music. Anything that sounds like Mendelssohn is merely coincidental. And finally, this piece is not typical Alkan at all. Try his concerto for solo piano on for size, or his sonatina. Those are not derivative. They sound contemporary, but they were written in the mid 1800s.
@thegreatapologist You have got to be shitting me, your ignorance of 19th century music is unbelievable. If you think Alkan was some kind of musical hermit at this point, you're incredibly foolish. And EVERYONE would have known Mendelssohn's music, especially a composer in Paris. Why don't you start with simple biographies of Mendelssohn, Chopin, Liszt, etc., than get back to me when you're out of your musical diapers. The nonsense about sonata development has nothing to do with my writing.
@thegreatapologist Hey, dipshit, go Google Mendelssohn and Alkan, and you'll see just how much Alkan of Mendelssohn's music Alkan studied and played. Amazing that somehow other peoples' music could get through the force field that surrounded Alkan's apartment. And as anyone knows, Chopin was playing the Ballade all over Paris for at least a couple of years before it was published. Anyone except for you, that is.
@AndrewFinch1 Hmm. Ad Hominem. Now, you resort to acting like a five year old. Congradulations.
I no longer care about your opinion. Your insults have eliminated any worth in it. Go on and insult someone else. Since you can't seem able to say anything useful to anyone, I will simply repeat what a little rabbit told me when I was little:
If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.
@thegreatapologist I'll say the same thing that I say to every 15 year old that gets burned by me, and then tries to use logic terms. It doesn't matter if I say that 1+1 = 2, or I say 1+1 = 2, you asshole. The ad hominem doesn't negate the entire argument.
You'll have to go and look up what an ad hominem ARGUMENT is, and what an insult is.
ive only just heard of this composer.....and blimey I have been missing something beautiful.thank you hexameron!the sheet music helps me appreciate just how difficult this music is
re-spect... for Hamelin... I can tell why no other pianists whould consider playing this piece.. it is so insanely difficult! yet beautiful. Who cares he isn't as famous as Chopin or Schumann... only the more left for us admirers : )
In the end, in spite of all this mystery, one thing is certain: Aime-Moi is a truly wonderful piece of work... Its deep emotional content, romantic inflection, and superb academic interest are all fused together to show that yet again, Alkan was more than just a second-rate composer. Don't believe me? Just ask Mr. Liszt, to whom the Trois Morceaux were dedicated to.
[End rant]
So, how did I do, guys? Would Ronald Smith be proud of my insights? I tried analyzing this work like Smith would.
And our character seems to be pondering many things, including, but not limited to, his love and anxiety over this love. The greatest mystery is about the ending. What happened? Did the woman end up loving him? Did he get over his anxiety, or just put it to rest for a short while? Did he put it to rest at all? Is the program behind this piece concrete (as in, is it actually about his relations with her), or was it abstract (as in, just a journey inside his thoughts and emotions)?
And this intensification is represented by the progression in division of the beats (groups of 3, groups of 4, 5, 6, 7, and finally to 8). The musical, emotional, and academic climax falls back into a recapitulation of the beginning, but a new sudden anxiety takes place, because it goes straight from 8th notes to triplet 16th notes and use of octaves and leaps in the melody to emphasize emotional strain. Relaxing a little, the sixteenth notes return to regular duple (groups of 4) to be continued
And finally, at 4:36, groups of 8, where the piece climaxes. The significance seems like at the beginning, someone Alkan may be portraying, either concretely or just abstractly (or maybe even himself... He was single at this time), is either wishing for love or singing a love song to someone (I speculate the former, because the mood is too dark to be seductive, flattering, or to a proper woman's taste to be sung to her). His anxiety from this love or desire to be loved keeps intensifying (t.b.c)
I keep coming back and commenting on this video, but I've noticed something amazing! Not only is this piece romantically and musically satisfying, but it is also academically very interesting. There may be more program to this work than just the title "Love Me." If you notice at the beginning, Alkan is centering around 8th notes. At 1:29, it turns into triplets (groups of 3). At 2:15, 16th notes (groups of 4). At 3:10, groups of 5. 3:30, groups of 6. 4:12, groups of 7, (to be continued)
What happened to AdiOsi's (I think AdiOsi was his name) channel? He performed all three Trois Morceaux and had them on Youtube, and now his channel is gone. Disappeared. I should have downloaded the videos. ADIOSI PLEASE COME BACK!
I've always found it interesting that these are some of his best works, and they're early works; before the death of Chopin, before his unfair defeat for professorship at the Paris Conservatoire to Marmontel, and even before the birth of his illegitimate son.
Hmm, I see what you mean... It sounds like a man losing his pride after rejection, but then somehow tries to recover... Alkan was, afterall, a very reclusive genius.
This is a very simple work, but at the same time, apt, effective, and picturesque. In this piece, he takes technical and melodic ideas that seem cliched, and he explores their merits.
This might be the publisher's doing; not Alkan's. Either way does it matter? Yes, beginning music theory students would get a point taken off for writing the key signature that way, but an Fb is an Fb.
@Hexameron yes correct, there would be no other way to write it unless you wrote its enharmonics which would be Dx or E. By the way, lovely video. Alkan is by far my favorite composer. I'm also a Chopin and Gershwin fan.
I wish more people would bother with these pieces.
It's a pity that out of all the fantastic pianists and musicians out there, Marc-André Hamelin is the only one who has recorded these works or included them in his repertoire in their entirety. It's strange, considering these are three of the only pieces Alkan composed that expressly allow for personal artistic license!
I am however glad to see that young Etsuko Hirose has successfuly championed (and recorded) Le Vent, no. 2 of the set.
I absolutely agree. The neglect of these pieces is ridiculous and despite the absence of performance directions, Hamelin exhibits amazing interpretative clairvoyance in each one.
There are a few other recordings of Op. 15; one CD called "Alkan in 1837" features Op. 12-17, but the performances are rather poor.
In general: I think Alkan is the most neglected romantical piano composer. His pieces show virtuosity but also a very clever composer who treats the melodic passages very delicate
I haven't heard the Nanasakov or Robert Rivard recordings - are they still available? I would like to listen to them to see how they compare. Someone should also try to post other neglected pieces by Alkan, especially pieces like 'Bourée d'Auvergne', 'Quasi Caccia', 'Le Grillon' etc - these would be fascinating to hear in recorded performances.
@Hexameron I think Alkan's obscurity as a composer is partially a result of poor luck. I don't think great pianists intentionally neglected Alkan's works in the past, they probably just were preoccupied with bringing other great composers out of obscurity (like Horowitz and Scriabin.)
@Hexameron i guess that's exactly why Alkan's referred to as the "forgotten genius", all the hard work put into these pieces and it feels like barely anyone knows him...
@4candles I think the somewhat sobering truth is that these pieces are just ridiculously difficult to pull off. At the end of the day, most pianists who put in many hours get very mediocre results with Alkan. It's not worth it to the seasoned professional. And of course, when an amateur attempts it, it rarely receives the affection it should. He's just a tough guy to give justice to and, IMO, mastering an Alkan piece is like juicing an Iron Orange. The effort to juice ration is a little off.
The thing to remember with this piece, i honestly don't think the middle section is supposed to be romantic in the true sense, alkan was a recluse, a mysogynist, a misanthropist... perhaps he felt that nobody did love him, and the stunning scales and sheer drama of the piece were whis version of a cry out for someone to love him? the title of the piece is 'Love me' and when you think of someone saying that, it's different from 'I love you'. There is so much pent up emotion in this piece.
NewComposer11 1 week ago
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It is worth noting that this year will be held an ALKAN COMPETITION!!! on the memory of the great composer and his great master Zimmerman in Athens! It will be lots of fun and a meeting place for all Alkan enthusiasts!! :D
Just google alkan-zimmerman to get to the official site, youtube doesn't allow me to post links : )
alexilmagnifico 1 week ago
Quién es el pianista?
javierfas 2 weeks ago
Who's the pianist?
frankentomato 3 weeks ago
On par with Liszt's piano solos...if not better
frankentomato 3 weeks ago
I put Alkan at the same level as Liszt and Chopin. In fact, Liszt once remarked that Alkan had the best pianistic technique he'd ever seen.
Sword1479 3 months ago
I'm in love!
Marsonian 4 months ago
4:36
:O
ConcertoInX 5 months ago
8:55
piano12161770 5 months ago
why a-flat minor? it's nearly impossible to play ;-)
domeyer 5 months ago
@domeyer You answered to your own question.
F14Lolcat 5 months ago 9
Interesting how Alkan seems to return the theme of tragic unrequited love in the "Chant d'Amour - Chant de Mort". I guess you could say that he was trying to refine and condense his ideas expressed in the "Trois Morceaux" when writing it.
@domeyer What? It's only the relative minor of C-flat Major! :P
TheWanderingNight 3 months ago 4
Alcan is a perfect composer to me, no boredom, no reason to stop listening. But Ravel is my favourite one.
arsviatticae 6 months ago
This is so beautiful and rich!
gustavojoris 6 months ago
Charles-Valentin Alkan deserves much more recognition as a solo piano composer and an artist. For his time he really had a lot of ingenuity. I think he was ahead of a his time a bit. Just look at the notation. People still really have not done some of the things the way he did. It is fascinating to watch the notation of this music while listening.
ty2 7 months ago 15
A great composer indeed.
Busoni72 8 months ago
no dislikes...that's what I like to see
MusicXofXtheXsoul 8 months ago
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@hexameron Like your video, great song... would love to learn it.. where can i find the script (printable)? could you tell me please
oneheadshot9 8 months ago
@hexameron Like your video, grat song... would love to learn it.. where can i find the script(prntable)? could you tell me please
oneheadshot9 8 months ago
This music is so beautiful, Alkan the great Jewish composer was a genius!
saulboyjt 9 months ago
wow 7 flats O_O
IlCOLElI 9 months ago
@IlCOLElI Why? is that prohibited?
mikedeliv 8 months ago
Great stuff, thx for the upload.
gjc82071 9 months ago
Man, just imagine how much money Hamelin would earn if he were to be paid per notes that he played in his lifetime. Even if it were a penny, he would still be rich.
cowzilla8 9 months ago
the transition from 5:28 to 5:50 is brilliant
Stivanification 9 months ago
absolutely amazing
Karootastic 10 months ago
I'm so happy that there is no "I dislike"!
hellmaniac666 10 months ago
aime moi sil vous plait!
ElMelomanopesimista 10 months ago
C'est beau, élégiaque et tendre
FAK64 10 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Magnifique, Merci!
Hélas pourquoi tant d'oubli pour ces artistes subtils
et pourquoi cette méconnaissance sociale...?
"Mon malheur vient d'avoir écouté les concerts des anges et d'avoir cru que les hommes pouvaient les comprendre."
Gambara
Honoré de Balzac, Paris, juin 1837.
Waechter59 11 months ago
Comment removed
Waechter59 11 months ago
Only video I've seen with 0 dislikes.
For good reason.
djziggurat 1 year ago
Bit unorthodox to use Cb Maj/Ab Min than the usual enharmonic equiv. But that's Alkan for ya.
Tunaan360 1 year ago
Does anyone know whether or not he was related to Siegfried Alkan (a jewish german composer)?
churchlandsmuso4life 1 year ago
@churchlandsmuso4life It doesn't seem so. Alkan was actually his fathers name. Plus, he was french.
thegreatapologist 1 year ago
I'm tired of this nonsense about Alkan being underrated. He is, if anything, overrated by now. This piece for example is nothing but a Lied ohne Worter dressed up in ridiculous pianistic figurations that Mendelssohn wouldn't have bothered wasting time with.
All of Alkan's music sounds like Mendelssohn with whom he was apparently obsessed. I'd rather listen to one 2 minute Mendelssohn piece than this overwritten shit. There's about the same amount of musical thought involved.
brandonkerry1 1 year ago
@brandonkerry1 Wow, how constructive of a criticism. What are they teaching in schools?
thegreatapologist 1 year ago
@thegreatapologist I don't know, what are they teaching an effeminate young teenager like you in school? If you read the description of the piece, Ronald Smith says what needs to be said about it, even if he is being much nicer than he needs to be. And I don't know how I can offer "constructive criticism" to a man who has been dead since 1888, but if you know, please do tell. Maybe you don't know what constructive criticism is. What are they teaching in schools?
AndrewFinch1 1 year ago
@AndrewFinch1 First of all, I'm not effeminate. You know nothing about whether I actually am or not, so why call me that? Secondly, what I was saying was that your comment can be boiled down to "Its dumb and to virtuosic." Neither of which are constructive and are therefore useless and insulting. Sure, the guys been dead, but there are composers today who would love to know what's good and what isn't in a piece. Constructive criticism is with an intent of helping, not being insulting.
thegreatapologist 1 year ago
@thegreatapologist Your videos reveal you to be effeminate. Look at the beginning of the piece, and then look at a Mendelssohn LoW. Then imagine Mendelssohn dressing it up and making it last 7 minutes too long. Extrapolate something. If that is how you boil down my comment, than that says something about you, not mee. And I would never say "to (sic) virtuosic". I said overwritten, and it is, both pianistically and thematically.
AndrewFinch1 1 year ago
@AndrewFinch1 Which videos are you referring to?
This music says says a lot of things. If it was just three minutes, everything would be jammed. And as for saying "something about you, not something about mee (sic)" that's what I took "ridiculous pianistic figurations" to mean.
If you think it's overwritten, then fine. Listen to whatever music you like. Meanwhile, I'll listen to music that's more developed then the time normally devoted to pop music.
thegreatapologist 1 year ago
@thegreatapologist What development? This is like a pastiche that goes on and on. I'm sorry, I don't equate length to development. A 12 bar Mozart development has more invention than Alkan's typical development, which usually consists of playing the same thing over and over in different keys or changing figurations. There is a reason Alkan isn't regarded as a great composer, and this piece is the epitome of why.
AndrewFinch1 1 year ago
@AndrewFinch1 Umm, no. Just no. I have no idea where you are getting that from, but it's simply false.
And besides, this is not a sonata, but a free form programmatic piece. It's not intended to have the development of a sonata, but of a programmatic piece.
thegreatapologist 1 year ago
@thegreatapologist The reason this is 9 minutes long is fairly obvious. It is a failed attempt by Alkan to copy the structure of a ballade or fantasy by Chopin without having any of the necessary skill at manipulating themes or knowing how to tie disparate material together. This piece is a combination of Mendelssohnian themes mated to a Chopinian structure and padded with unimaginative but difficult to play pianistic forms. It is derivative, it is boring, it is typical Alkan.
AndrewFinch1 1 year ago
@AndrewFinch1 Chopin's first Ballade was written one year earlier. As for Mendelssohn, Mendelssohn was in germany while Alkan was holed up in his parisian apartment, seen no one and listening to no music. Anything that sounds like Mendelssohn is merely coincidental. And finally, this piece is not typical Alkan at all. Try his concerto for solo piano on for size, or his sonatina. Those are not derivative. They sound contemporary, but they were written in the mid 1800s.
thegreatapologist 1 year ago
@thegreatapologist You have got to be shitting me, your ignorance of 19th century music is unbelievable. If you think Alkan was some kind of musical hermit at this point, you're incredibly foolish. And EVERYONE would have known Mendelssohn's music, especially a composer in Paris. Why don't you start with simple biographies of Mendelssohn, Chopin, Liszt, etc., than get back to me when you're out of your musical diapers. The nonsense about sonata development has nothing to do with my writing.
AndrewFinch1 1 year ago
@thegreatapologist Hey, dipshit, go Google Mendelssohn and Alkan, and you'll see just how much Alkan of Mendelssohn's music Alkan studied and played. Amazing that somehow other peoples' music could get through the force field that surrounded Alkan's apartment. And as anyone knows, Chopin was playing the Ballade all over Paris for at least a couple of years before it was published. Anyone except for you, that is.
MORON
AndrewFinch1 1 year ago
@AndrewFinch1 Hmm. Ad Hominem. Now, you resort to acting like a five year old. Congradulations.
I no longer care about your opinion. Your insults have eliminated any worth in it. Go on and insult someone else. Since you can't seem able to say anything useful to anyone, I will simply repeat what a little rabbit told me when I was little:
If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.
thegreatapologist 1 year ago
@thegreatapologist I'll say the same thing that I say to every 15 year old that gets burned by me, and then tries to use logic terms. It doesn't matter if I say that 1+1 = 2, or I say 1+1 = 2, you asshole. The ad hominem doesn't negate the entire argument.
You'll have to go and look up what an ad hominem ARGUMENT is, and what an insult is.
AndrewFinch1 1 year ago
@AndrewFinch1 I agree that I lost the argument that Mendelssohn influenced Alkan. I admit that I didn't check the facts in regards to his influence.
However, in regards to your actual opinion as to Alkan's musical quality, I no longer care about it. That's what I was saying in my reply.
thegreatapologist 1 year ago
ive never seen so many flats in my life
beastlypianoplayer1 1 year ago 3
ive only just heard of this composer.....and blimey I have been missing something beautiful.thank you hexameron!the sheet music helps me appreciate just how difficult this music is
Puffausten 1 year ago
the biggining of this pice is so beutiful. but i think its a bit boring after a while :-l
BenjaminTheHolyDiver 1 year ago
Comment removed
madlovba2 1 year ago
re-spect... for Hamelin... I can tell why no other pianists whould consider playing this piece.. it is so insanely difficult! yet beautiful. Who cares he isn't as famous as Chopin or Schumann... only the more left for us admirers : )
RemovdSande11 1 year ago
In the end, in spite of all this mystery, one thing is certain: Aime-Moi is a truly wonderful piece of work... Its deep emotional content, romantic inflection, and superb academic interest are all fused together to show that yet again, Alkan was more than just a second-rate composer. Don't believe me? Just ask Mr. Liszt, to whom the Trois Morceaux were dedicated to.
[End rant]
So, how did I do, guys? Would Ronald Smith be proud of my insights? I tried analyzing this work like Smith would.
OrangeSodaKing 1 year ago 20
Comment removed
madlovba2 1 year ago
Comment removed
madlovba2 1 year ago
@OrangeSodaKing Such troll. lol...
Lemonizm 1 year ago
And our character seems to be pondering many things, including, but not limited to, his love and anxiety over this love. The greatest mystery is about the ending. What happened? Did the woman end up loving him? Did he get over his anxiety, or just put it to rest for a short while? Did he put it to rest at all? Is the program behind this piece concrete (as in, is it actually about his relations with her), or was it abstract (as in, just a journey inside his thoughts and emotions)?
OrangeSodaKing 1 year ago
And this intensification is represented by the progression in division of the beats (groups of 3, groups of 4, 5, 6, 7, and finally to 8). The musical, emotional, and academic climax falls back into a recapitulation of the beginning, but a new sudden anxiety takes place, because it goes straight from 8th notes to triplet 16th notes and use of octaves and leaps in the melody to emphasize emotional strain. Relaxing a little, the sixteenth notes return to regular duple (groups of 4) to be continued
OrangeSodaKing 1 year ago
And finally, at 4:36, groups of 8, where the piece climaxes. The significance seems like at the beginning, someone Alkan may be portraying, either concretely or just abstractly (or maybe even himself... He was single at this time), is either wishing for love or singing a love song to someone (I speculate the former, because the mood is too dark to be seductive, flattering, or to a proper woman's taste to be sung to her). His anxiety from this love or desire to be loved keeps intensifying (t.b.c)
OrangeSodaKing 1 year ago
I keep coming back and commenting on this video, but I've noticed something amazing! Not only is this piece romantically and musically satisfying, but it is also academically very interesting. There may be more program to this work than just the title "Love Me." If you notice at the beginning, Alkan is centering around 8th notes. At 1:29, it turns into triplets (groups of 3). At 2:15, 16th notes (groups of 4). At 3:10, groups of 5. 3:30, groups of 6. 4:12, groups of 7, (to be continued)
OrangeSodaKing 1 year ago
Je découvre Alkan et je dois dire que je suis complètement émerveillée, quelle magie!
Elerinna23 1 year ago
you can post aime-moi la bemol mineur? or is the same song?
Sugusnekoo 1 year ago
3:30 - 4:11 my fav part
kastlesucksTDOTS 1 year ago
4:36-5:09 is my favorite part of this piece! :D
6:07 sounds like something from Rachmaninoff (who was about 70 or so years later)
OrangeSodaKing 1 year ago 3
Those Baroque trills around 1:07 are wonderful!
Lukecash12 1 year ago 2
What happened to AdiOsi's (I think AdiOsi was his name) channel? He performed all three Trois Morceaux and had them on Youtube, and now his channel is gone. Disappeared. I should have downloaded the videos. ADIOSI PLEASE COME BACK!
I've always found it interesting that these are some of his best works, and they're early works; before the death of Chopin, before his unfair defeat for professorship at the Paris Conservatoire to Marmontel, and even before the birth of his illegitimate son.
OrangeSodaKing 1 year ago
"Love me"...hmm what a title
juufa72 2 years ago 3
Hmm, I see what you mean... It sounds like a man losing his pride after rejection, but then somehow tries to recover... Alkan was, afterall, a very reclusive genius.
jasonextreme 2 years ago
This is a very simple work, but at the same time, apt, effective, and picturesque. In this piece, he takes technical and melodic ideas that seem cliched, and he explores their merits.
Lukecash12 2 years ago 3
the ending is haunting. beautifully played and, of course, composed. alkan is the freest spirit in music.
kasyapa 2 years ago
04:56 i can hear the thunder storm
smnnbdy 2 years ago 2
hmm..this one does sound kinda Chopin-y
egyptianghetto56 2 years ago 5
Or Chopin sounds kinda this ;P
stacattos 2 years ago 10
Yes is does. Chopin and Alkan had great influence on eachother
TwelfthRoot2 2 years ago
1:30-1:34 Simpsons theme
Und1ne 2 years ago 71
I guess its not in the correct pitch but it sounds like right !!looool
hailkayy 2 years ago
no, the pitch is ok
123coolmik 2 years ago
I think he was comparing this to the simpsons theme :P
addeex1 2 years ago
lmao
Chopinco 2 years ago
@Und1ne Sorry but not Simpsons theme starts with tritonus (diminished fitfht interval ) and this is not the case.
MikeTsubasa 1 year ago 2
@MikeTsubasa Thanks mr exacto
Und1ne 1 year ago
@Und1ne it would have been odd if it were....but it's not...it's only the first 3 notes of it, the higher notes are lower than in the actual theme!
xxxslayerxxx666 7 months ago
what key is that Cb? or Ab minor, even? I've never seen so many flats in the key signature xD
madgamer23 2 years ago 2
Ab Minor - It's weird how the 7th flat is on the top of the staff, I've never seen it written like that
NathanPlano 2 years ago 8
alkan was a weirdo lol
celach 2 years ago 5
This might be the publisher's doing; not Alkan's. Either way does it matter? Yes, beginning music theory students would get a point taken off for writing the key signature that way, but an Fb is an Fb.
Hexameron 2 years ago
@Hexameron Key signatures were written differently back in those days, so Alkan and the publisher were both correct ;)
4candles 1 year ago
@Hexameron yes correct, there would be no other way to write it unless you wrote its enharmonics which would be Dx or E. By the way, lovely video. Alkan is by far my favorite composer. I'm also a Chopin and Gershwin fan.
BlackMaleRedemption 1 year ago
@celach No weirdos here only limited people who can't get that
Umby64 1 year ago
All Time Masterpiece!!! Bravo!
GaryPansey 2 years ago
Hmmm...Alkan's style is pretty unique, he's relatively new to me. Thanks for sharing.
Kalen1457 2 years ago 3
I love how Hamelin puts some rubato in this :D
jasonextreme 2 years ago 11
Comment removed
ultracoolhomies 2 years ago
Thanks for uploading this! Your contributions to the society of music is well appreciated.
ReturnOfTheStienway 2 years ago 37
Same quality of a Chopin ballade
staystilljason 2 years ago 10
I think this was highly influenced by Chopin. This is definitely not written in the usual Alkan style.
Fallansig 2 years ago
I wish more people would bother with these pieces.
It's a pity that out of all the fantastic pianists and musicians out there, Marc-André Hamelin is the only one who has recorded these works or included them in his repertoire in their entirety. It's strange, considering these are three of the only pieces Alkan composed that expressly allow for personal artistic license!
I am however glad to see that young Etsuko Hirose has successfuly championed (and recorded) Le Vent, no. 2 of the set.
4candles 2 years ago 29
I absolutely agree. The neglect of these pieces is ridiculous and despite the absence of performance directions, Hamelin exhibits amazing interpretative clairvoyance in each one.
There are a few other recordings of Op. 15; one CD called "Alkan in 1837" features Op. 12-17, but the performances are rather poor.
Hexameron 2 years ago 10
In general: I think Alkan is the most neglected romantical piano composer. His pieces show virtuosity but also a very clever composer who treats the melodic passages very delicate
kombelpeter 2 years ago
I haven't heard the Nanasakov or Robert Rivard recordings - are they still available? I would like to listen to them to see how they compare. Someone should also try to post other neglected pieces by Alkan, especially pieces like 'Bourée d'Auvergne', 'Quasi Caccia', 'Le Grillon' etc - these would be fascinating to hear in recorded performances.
Thanks.
4candles 2 years ago
The Nanasakov is not an actual performance - it's a midi played through a modified piano.
tompilk 2 years ago
@Hexameron
I prefer Michael Nansakov's performance of this piece. It's far more lyrical, more tonal shading, far more drama!
AndyWarhol 1 year ago
@Hexameron
I prefer Michael Nansakov's performance of this piece. It's far more lyrical, more tonal shading, far more drama!
AndyWarhol 1 year ago
@AndyWarhol but thats not a recording of a performance, its a digital one. not a human
StarWarseu 1 year ago
@Hexameron I think Alkan's obscurity as a composer is partially a result of poor luck. I don't think great pianists intentionally neglected Alkan's works in the past, they probably just were preoccupied with bringing other great composers out of obscurity (like Horowitz and Scriabin.)
Lemonizm 1 year ago
@Hexameron i guess that's exactly why Alkan's referred to as the "forgotten genius", all the hard work put into these pieces and it feels like barely anyone knows him...
jelwah1 1 year ago
@4candles I think the somewhat sobering truth is that these pieces are just ridiculously difficult to pull off. At the end of the day, most pianists who put in many hours get very mediocre results with Alkan. It's not worth it to the seasoned professional. And of course, when an amateur attempts it, it rarely receives the affection it should. He's just a tough guy to give justice to and, IMO, mastering an Alkan piece is like juicing an Iron Orange. The effort to juice ration is a little off.
toneeeeeee 10 months ago