Alkan (1813-1888)

French piano virtuoso and composer. His formidably difficult piano pieces were neglected until the 1970s. Works include Grande Sonate: Les Quatre Ages (1848) and 12 Etudes in every minor key (1857), of which numbers 4-7 constitute a symphony for piano solo and numbers 8-10 a concert for piano solo.

Born in Paris, he was so precocious as a player that he was admitted to the Paris Conservatory at the age of six. After a visit to London in 1833, he settled in Paris as a piano teacher. In his works he cultivated an advanced, immensely difficult, and often very modern technique. As a performer he was ranked with Chopin (a close friend) and Liszt, but became a recluse after 1849. He is alleged to have been killed by a collapsing bookcase.

Works Piano two piano concertos; piano trio; piano sonatas, numerous piano studies (including one for the right hand and one for the left), character pieces; four Op. nos. of pieces for pedal piano.