The Symphony for Solo Piano is a large-scale romantic work for piano composed by

Charles-Valentin Alkan Charles-Valentin Alkan (; 30 November 1813 – 29 March 1888) was a French Jewish composer and virtuoso pianist. At the height of his fame in the 1830s and 1840s he was, alongside his friends and colleagues Frédéric Chopin and Franz Lisz ...

and published in 1857. Although it is generally performed as a self-contained work, it comprises studies Nos. 4-7 from the ''Douze

étude An étude (; ) or study is an instrumental musical composition, usually short, designed to provide practice material for perfecting a particular musical skill. The tradition of writing études emerged in the early 19th century with the rapidl ...

s dans tous les tons mineurs (Twelve Studies in all the minor keys)'', Op. 39, each title being prefaced by the word ''Symphonie'' ( French: ''Symphony''). The four movements are titled ''Allegro'', '' Marche Funèbre'', ''

Menuet A minuet (; also spelled menuet) is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in time. The English word was adapted from the Italian ''minuetto'' and the French ''menuet''. The term also describes the musical form that accompa ...

'', and ''Finale''. Much like the Concerto for Solo Piano, the Symphony is written so as to evoke the broad palette of timbres and harmonic textures available to an orchestra. It is an early example of a

piano symphony A piano symphony is a piece for solo piano in one or more movements. It is a symphonic genre by virtue of imitating orchestral tone colour, texture, and symphonic development. History An early piano symphony was written by Theodor Kullak and pub ...

. In the opinion of François Luguenot, it "does not contain the excesses of lkan'sConcerto or the Grande Sonate (Op. 33). But, rather like lkan'sSonatine Op. 61, it proves that Alkan was also capable of writing perfectly balanced and almost ‘Classical’ works."Luguenot (2001) Unlike a standard classical symphony, each movement is in a different key, rising in

progressive tonality Progressive tonality is the music compositional practice whereby a piece of music does not finish in the key (music), key in which it began, but instead 'progresses' to an ending in a different key or tonality. To avoid misunderstanding, it should b ...

by a

perfect fourth A fourth is a musical interval encompassing four staff positions in the music notation of Western culture, and a perfect fourth () is the fourth spanning five semitones (half steps, or half tones). For example, the ascending interval from C to ...

Description

Allegro

The opening movement in C minor is written in

sonata form Sonata form (also ''sonata-allegro form'' or ''first movement form'') is a musical form, musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle ...

. The thematic material of the Allegro is almost entirely derived from the opening theme, which appears in octaves in the left hand.

Marche Funèbre

The second movement is in

ternary form Ternary form, sometimes called song form, is a three-part musical form consisting of an opening section (A), a following section (B) and then a repetition of the first section (A). It is usually schematized as A–B–A. Prominent examples includ ...

with a

legato In music performance and notation, legato (; Italian for "tied together"; French ''lié''; German ''gebunden'') indicates that musical notes are played or sung smoothly and connected. That is, the player makes a transition from note to note wit ...

melody over

staccato Staccato (; Italian for "detached") is a form of musical articulation. In modern notation, it signifies a note of shortened duration, separated from the note that may follow by silence. It has been described by theorists and has appeared in music ...

chords in the first section and a lyrical

chorale Chorale is the name of several related musical forms originating in the music genre of the Lutheran chorale: * Hymn tune of a Lutheran hymn (e.g. the melody of "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"), or a tune in a similar format (e.g. one of the t ...

in the middle section. François Luguenot wrote:

The second movement is a funeral march in F minor, rather Mahlerian in style. In the original edition the title page read ‘Symphonie: No 2. Marcia funebre sulla morte d’un Uomo da bene Funeral march on the death of a good man’ words which have sadly been lost in all subsequent editions. Of course one is reminded of the subtitle of the ‘Marcia funebre’ in Beethoven’s third symphony. But might we not regard this ‘uomo da bene’ as Alkan’s father, Alkan Morhange, who died in 1855, two years before these studies were published?

Jack Gibbons Jack Gibbons (born 2 March 1962) is an English classical composer and virtuoso pianist. Biography Gibbons was born in England. His father was a scientist and his mother a visual artist. He began his piano studies in Stockton-on-Tees, later ...

wrote:Jack Gibbons Facebook entry, 3 July 2013
accessed 3 December 2014 "The funeral march's sense of restraint is borne out by Alkan's marking over the gentle central section, "with contained sorrow" ..The distant drum roll that interrupts the march near its close adds an Alkanesque sense of disquiet to this already sombre music."

Menuet

The Menuet is in ternary form, like the Marche Funèbre. François Luguenot writes that "the Minuet in B minor is in fact a

scherzo A scherzo (, , ; plural scherzos or scherzi), in western classical music, is a short composition – sometimes a movement from a larger work such as a symphony or a sonata. The precise definition has varied over the years, but scherzo often ref ...

that anticipates shades of

Bruckner Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Germ ...

—full of energy and brightened by a lyrical trio." Adrian Corleonis suggests that " Berlioz and

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

are in closest proximity in the hectic Minuet, combining the spirit of the Ronde du Sabbat and Marche au Supplice from the former's ''

Symphonie Fantastique ' (''Fantastical Symphony: Episode in the Life of an Artist … in Five Sections'') Op. 14, is a program symphony written by the French composer Hector Berlioz in 1830. It is an important piece of the early Romantic period. The first performan ...

'', with a palpable debt to the Minuet from the latter's "Les Quintes" Quartet, Op. 76/2, which Alkan transcribed."Corleonis (1992)

Finale

The final movement is extremely technically demanding. Luguenot comments that "the final Presto in E minor, memorably described by Raymond Lewenthal as a ‘ride in hell’, brings the work to a breathless close."

Performance history

In the opinion of

: "That music of this quality has remained neglected in the 150 or so years since its creation is a shocking scandal ... Alkan performed extracts of the work himself at his series of 'Petits Concerts' in Paris in the 1870s but the next notable performance wasn't until 1938 when

Egon Petri Egon Petri (23 March 188127 May 1962) was a Dutch pianist. Life and career Petri's family was Dutch. He was born a Dutch citizen but in Hanover, Germany, and grew up in Dresden, where he attended the Kreuzschule. His father, a professional vio ...

performed the Symphony for

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

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