Alkan - Etude No. 3 Op. 35

[TheMusokestrain]

1:39 Although to some people it may be heavy, I quite enjoy this sort of music.

[gsarci2011]

who played this?

[jefftam1234]

@gsarci2011 Bernard Ringeissen, he has several Alkan CD out.

[rajulvardi]

what a gorgeous idea to show the notes with the music. thanks

[SuperRezyser]

This is intense! Alkan's the one.

[L4RSLink]

Amazing piece! you should watch a guy called Orangesodaking , he interpretates this piece very very good!

[Lukecash12]

@42rachmaninov You misunderstand. I meant that I found his Neo-Classicism refreshing; Of course, I don't mean to confuse you with the term Neo-Classical as if Alkan wrote music like Prokofeiv or Korngold did. I mean that Alkan wrote more like Schubert or Haydn than his contemporaries.

[makerofjam]

unlike Paganini, Alkan managed to be ridiculously virtuosic AND good! (awaits torrent of abuse)

[cancakmur]

I don't understand why not to like both Alkan and Liszt or Alkan and Chopin. They were friends and the second movements of Alkan's sonata and Liszt's sonata in h moll are mosty planned together. (here I must thank orangesodaking for his wonderful video showing their similarities :))

[s1earle]

This can only be played by a few pianists who have the utmost octave technique; that is no trouble to the true believers (and practisers), Kempff exclued.

[PrawDuhJee]

The first half reminds me a lot of Chopin.

[Vesivian]

Man, those octaves look really wrist hurting :P

[playingmusiconmars]

I'm pretty sure that in our lifetime Alkan will finally be considered to be what he truly was- a pioneering master of the romantic era and a wonderful composer that is known for astounding musical content and not terrifying difficulty. There has been a certain Alkan revival in the last few decades and I don't think it will stop.

It was the same with Satie. His genius was recognized quite a while after his death but now he is one of the central figures of early modernism.

[Bruce88keys]

@playingmusiconmars Satie had something to say-Alkan seems to be derivative at best and fixated on the mechanical -hardly the musical, so don't keep your hopes up

[Vesivian]

2:14 onwards reminds me of my own composition a bit :)

[hellomate639]

This is a lot more characteristic of Alkan, especially the more violent part near the beginning. I love that stuff...

[armeinify]

has anyone got an idea how much difficult it is?

[Laudan08]

@armeinify pretty easy the chords, and the arpeggio in both hands, requires a lot of time. the octaves part can be very exhausting.

[OrangeSodaKing]

@armeinify I've played this etude and performed it a few times, and it's a step down from most of Chopin's etudes (like, I think many of Chopin's etudes are harder). You should try it!

[CSPlayerDamon]

@Laudan08 Alkan is not hard...!!??!?!??o.O

[Laudan08]

@CSPlayerDamon No, just practice like 5 years and you'll get his whole piano repertoire.

[CSPlayerDamon]

@Laudan08 5 years is what I consider the most a pianist should practice in order to get a pretty good technique, IF he practices daily. But what you call easy is something you can play in one month or so, to get someone's repertoire in 5 years is a lot of time, at least for me. Either way, I can't find any other explanation on why Alkan isn't as famous as others other than his difficulty.

[Vesivian]

@CSPlayerDamon Urm in my opinion I think that Alkan was not famous because he had chosen not to be famous... There were only 2 pictures taken for him and he rarely preformed in public which made a bad image on him, people basically thought he was a dark,evil and antisocial man but in truth he was actually a warm-friendly and funny man to the people who actually took the time to meet him and make friends with him so in the end its a tragic fate he had in death... a falling bookcase...

[CSPlayerDamon]

@Vesivian I don't think the bookcase rumor is true..If I remember correctly.

[Vesivian]

@CSPlayerDamon Im not really sure on what is true, someone said it was the bookcase and somone else said it was a falling quran(orsomething like that)

[Bruce88keys]

@CSPlayerDamon perhaps because Alkan's music is not so good- it was an era when people were fixated on the mechanical- Alkan Henselt and others all wished they had 1 /100th of Chopin's talent... Alkan is boring romantic Czerny

[hellomate639]

@Bruce88keys

Troll. I shall not feed you...

[amxmachine]

@hellomate639 you know what they say, you cant teach an old dog new tricks

[Vesivian]

@Laudan08 looooooool who are you to say that xD Mr. Runescape :P and basic piano compositions :)

[Kentodragon]

2:12 Seriously Alkan...What the fuck...

[FranzLisztian]

@Kentodragon

I love that part, don't you?

[Kentodragon]

@FranzLisztian That's my favorite part. But I can't even imagine what was going through Alkan's head. His music is just so beautiful.

[Apollyon80]

Wow, that way truly both beautiful and masterfully played.

[ColtonBrook]

on the second slide, after the double bar line the notation of the third voice is weird. why are the noteheads connected? that sort of notation usually denotes a cluster, but...i dont hear clusters...why alkan? why?

[OrangeSodaKing]

ColtonBrook:

Those are eighth notes. Alkan wanted to show that those notes should be especially emphasized. He could have put tenuto marks over them, but he wanted to make a more obvious point doing that.

[OrangeSodaKing]

Composers actually did that kind of notation all the time.

[ColtonBrook]

sure, thanks. i'm just used to seeing that indicate a cluster

[Kapomafioso]

Very beautiful!

[yuldashevgiorgi]

Great etude

[newFranzFerencLiszt]

this is my favorite.

[OrangeSodaKing]

The alternating octaves from 2:14-2:36 were a tad quick in my opinion (I think if they're quicker than the rest of the piece they sound slightly out of place, and almost showy.

But the interpretation is stellar! The melodies sang so well! I love this etude, it's my favorite from the opus, and I'm actually learning it!

[84Fish48Fish]

Because this is an etude, I do agree with you that the octaves were a tad quick, but on the hand, it did contribute a little more excitement.

[BenjyTehJet]

You're not saying Schubert and Haydn's music is simple are you?

[Lukecash12]

When it comes to chord structures, texture, etc. yes. But when it comes to rhythmic device, musicality, form, phrasing, counterpoint, and other various effects, not at all.

[BenjyTehJet]

CORRECT! Glad to find someone that can speak their opinion but with some sort of musical education to back it up ha ha.

(Y)

[Lukecash12]

Well, than I'm glad to be the diamon in the rough for someone. Have a good one.

[Lukecash12]

Well, than I'm glad to be the diamond in the rough for someone. Have a good one.

[pookiehohn]

This has so much musical substance to it.

[drcarlwainwright]

That's the 3rd Alkan piece I hear ... definitely more into musical substance than Liszt for most of his virtuoso pieces.

[anonymousQ45]

2:14 makes me want to start a revolution!

[writerspleasure]

what perfect music - sylvan days of pastorality.

[snowboarderxzxz]

Wow... this song has such a beautiful beginning and ending... The climax is amazing and is such a contrast that you might not think that it would fit originally... but it fits perfectly!

[egyptianghetto56]

this is my favorite etude from this opus

it's just...scrumptious! I love it!

[TheoneParky]

Such a powerful climax in this piece. Beautiful

[cerzule]

Wonderful piece!

[123eldest]

another great post hex

[4candles]

Some people hear Chopin in this and it's true that Alkan quite often evoked the soundworld of the composers he admired - you only have to look at his Esquisses, Op. 63, to see that he was indebted to past masters. He transcribed several works by his predecessors. Composers from all eras of music have written music that sounds akin to other composers, e.g. Vivaldi/Bach, Debussy/Messiaen - maybe it was a form of homage to the art of admired composers of bygone times...

[anonymousQ45]

well said. you forgot beethoven/ mozart. beethovens early sonatas are very close to mozarts style of composition

[Aquired2]

@anonymousQ45 More to Haydn's. Beethoven's style was already... different from the beginning, yet closer to the somewhat more profound Haydn than to Mozart.

[staystilljason]

Haha the G sharp is on the lower end of the treble clef... I love Alkan

[4candles]

Do you mean F# ? I love Alkan too - have a listen to Stephanie McCallum's interpretations of these Etudes for a fresh approach; they are on YT.

[Ho0chie]

i hear so much chopin in this... strange as chopin wasnt around for a fair while after this....

[Jman0101]

there was radio program that mentioned how alkan liked to imitate various composers so maybe thats why it sounds like chopin.

[Aquired2]

@Jman0101 This like Chopin? I don't think so... Chopin is so different in every way from Alkan. The subtlety of Chopin's salon pieces lacks and the revolutionarism from his études, too. But Alkan was great in an entirely different way: he knew every secret the piano had and was willing to exploit those in elegant, hard-lived pieces which are sour like Liszt and sometimes explore harmonies which would later inspire the Impressionist school.

[KwyKz0r]

Chopin was born 2 days before Alkan and they were next door neighbours :)

[Ho0chie]

oh really? where your sauce on this? not the birthdates the other bit...

[Hexameron]

That they were next-door neighbors? That is well documented in Chopin and Alkan biographies. They both lived in the Square d'Orleans.

[Ho0chie]

oh thats awesome, thanks for that. I'd make some sort of joke about Liszt being there too but im sure id get corrected....

[BenjyTehJet]

I thought they lived near each other. It wasn't next door though was it?

[Mr98giuliano]

@Hexameron Oh Sorry!!!! I made a big mistake! I like your comment!! I was just watching your video and I clikked for mistake the thumb down and I don't know how to put the thumb up!!

Anyway thanks for the uploading and for the beautiful channel and sorry for my english...I'm italian

[Yamsareverytasty]

tomato sauce...

[addeex1]

@Ho0chie hahah sauce? :P

[Yamsareverytasty]

Actually 3 years later :)

[Aquired2]

@KwyKz0r

And yet how different their styles are.