Took me a few listens, but I'm now convinced these may be among the greatest set of piano miniatures of all time. They are strikingly original, alluring, and so much is done out of so little. I can't stop listening.
Absolutely agree. These miniatures are so underrated and they gave pretty much the best out of all miniature repertoire out there for piano. Even without analysis can be heard and told so much from the structure, concept, forms, tone coloring, experimenting with the technique with effects with music picturing etc. Not to mention including Jewish traditional melodies, and inventions with tone sounding and techniques. And pretty much contributes to the ''French style'' showing what distinguishes it from German or other ones, esp at that time. It is not about ''ingeniousness'' but about the whole entity of these miniatures - and most important - they are all own beings, not any are similar and boring. Even non-classical listeners can find it enticing for any mood. At the end what is the criteria of an ''ingenious'' piece? are there at all such things, or did theorists and musicologists just advertised such as to be accepted publicaly x)
Late as all hell, but thank you for making this video. These are easily some of Alkan’s most gorgeous works, and I really really hate to compare, but many of these even outshine much of Chopin and Liszt’s output too. This opus handily negates anyone who calls Alkan’s works unmusical - if they can’t appreciate this, then I don’t have a fucking clue what they’re getting out of his contemporaries lol. Edit: While I’m here, I’ll also mention that Alkan’s piano abstractions are also on full display in this opus. He was amazing at taking concepts and turning them into music (i.e. pieces like “Le Grillon”, “Le Vent”, “Song of the Madwoman on the Seashore”, “Le Festin d’Esope”, “Le Chemin de Fer”, not to mention writing a fucking Symphony and Concerto for solo piano). Some of the most poetic piano writing in all of its history, which is especially impressive because it’s also some of the first of its kind.
@@ciararespect4296 They’re just words 😂 Don’t wet yourself over it 😂😂😂 What’s with the ridiculous emojis? 😂😂😂😂😂 Also, they may be nothing special to you, but I’m willing to bet you also just don’t care as much about Alkan’s artistry as I do - which is fine, difference of opinion and all that - but they’re pretty damn special to me lol
refined musical humor and irony, and, of course, self-irony, virtuoso lightness and ease, whatever the master joker Valentin Alkan was inspired by in these sketches! or - form of wisdom. Laus Deo
Rappers nowadays have to say “this rap shit is easy”, Alkan shows this romantic shit is easy to him by putting the cantabile right before the crescendo back into the main theme… I grew up on Chopin and Liszt but Alkan’s the guy the last few years that has me just shaking my head the most when I listen to him
Le Laus Deo qui conclut le recueil est, de tous les morceaux à thème religieux que j'ai entendu d'Alkan, celui qui est emprunt de la spiritualité la plus profonde. Ces esquisses sont réellement de petits chefs-d'œuvres !
With all his pianistic acrobatics.. he opens with La Vision... Which ends with a fragment of a beautiful German song, Der Mond ist aufgegangen... Is it by accident?
He wasn’t in the boys club, so many others like him that also didn’t receive the respect they deserved because of politics. Glad you are discovering Alkan now.
Французский композитор Шарль Валантен Алькан написал эскиз фа-диез минор «Грации» op.63-19 из цикла «49 эскизов», где каждый из трёх мелодических голосов соответствует каждой из богинь - верхний - Красота (Аглая), средний, преимущественно на органном пункте cis - Чистота или Непорочность (Евфросина), нижний - Любовь (Талия). Также, 22-й эскиз, ре-бемоль мажор из этого же цикла, называется «Чистота» - он посвящён отдельно второй богине и невероятно благозвучен своим движением в терцию. Также, имя первой богини - Красота, фигурирует и в его первом экспромте, си мажор, op.32
My favourites from the esquisses esquisses are toccatina, musique militaire, increpatio, en songe, scherzetto, les diablotins, tutti de concerto and laus deo.
what is the piece starting at 36 minutes in. I've been searching under number 24 (as I see on the paper) and clicking on each of your song names, but i don't think each name listed in the description shows each individual song. thank you
know i know that im right because i went back to look and there are NO TIME STAMPS!! it only lists 4-6 songs and then all of thewse myriad of songs get lost in between. ive looked up some numberd songs before , but i need to know so much shit like the 'prelude vs other tyeps of sgongs. then the opera number, then the number then the home address etc there are no time stamps. only major starts of songs not caounting the inbetween tineyer songs
*Timestamps*
(Pieces marked with 🥑 are a must-listen)
BOOK 1
0:00:03 - No.1 "La Vision" 🥑
0:03:05 - No.2 "Le Staccatissimo"
0:04:08 - No.3 "Le Legatissimo"
0:05:34 - No.4 "Les Cloches"
0:06:32 - No.5 "(Aristophanes, Les Grenouilles, vers 449 à 455)"
0:09:00 - No.6 "Fuguette"
0:10:32 - No.7 "Le Frisson"
0:12:16 - No.8 "Pseudo-Naïveté"
0:13:32 - No.9 "Confidence" 🥑
0:15:45 - No.10 "Increpatio" 🥑
0:17:10 - No.11 "Les Soupirs"
0:18:55 - No.12 "Barcarollette"
BOOK 2
0:20:10 - No.13 "Ressouvenir"
0:22:59 - No.14 "Duettino"
0:24:11 - No.15 "Tutti de Concerto" 🥑
0:25:16 - No.16 "Fantasie"
0:26:34 - No.17 "Petit Prélude à Trois"
0:27:18 - No.18 "Liedchen" 🥑
0:28:28 - No.19 "Grâces"
0:30:03 - No.20 "Petite Marche Villageoise"
0:31:46 - No.21 "Morituri te Salutant"
0:34:06 - No.22 "Innocenzia"
0:35:28 - No.23 "L'homme aux Sabots"
0:36:06 - No.24 "Contredanse" 🥑
BOOK 3
0:37:13 - No.25 "La Poursuite"
0:37:56 - No.26 "Petit Air"
0:38:41 - No.27 "Rigaudon"
0:39:39 - No.28 "Inflexibilité"
0:40:35 - No.29 "Délire" 🥑
0:41:29 - No.30 "Petit Air Dolent"
0:42:58 - No.31 "Début de Quatuor"
0:44:03 - No.32 "Minuettino"
0:47:12 - No.33 "Fais Dodo"
0:48:09 - No.34 "Odi Profanum Vulgus et Arceo: Favete Linguis"
0:50:36 - No.35 "Musique Militaire" 🥑
0:51:49 - No.36 "Toccatina" 🥑
BOOK 4
0:52:59 - No.37 "Scherzettino"
0:54:00 - No.38 "Le Ciel Vous Soit Tojours Prospère!"
0:55:36 - No.39 "Héraclite et Démocrite" 🥑
0:57:47 - No.40 "Attendez-moi Sous L'orme"
0:58:29 - No.41 "Les Enharmoniques"
1:00:22 - No.42 "Petit Air à 5 Voix"
1:01:18 - No.43 "Notturnino-Innamorato" 🥑
1:02:33 - No.44 "Transports"
1:03:18 - No.45 "Les Diablotins" 🥑
1:05:50 - No.46 "Le Premier Billet Doux"
1:06:53 - No.47 "Scherzetto"
1:08:59 - No.48 "En Songe" 🥑 (my favourite)
1:10:24 - No.49 "Laus Deo"
No 11 is my 🥑
🥑 this mark was so cute
avo
😅 3:59 😊😅😊😢😅😅😊😊
😊😊😊😊i9 I I
Ce corpus de pieces pour piano est un des meilleurs de son auteur et de son époque...Merci infiniment. ❤
Took me a few listens, but I'm now convinced these may be among the greatest set of piano miniatures of all time. They are strikingly original, alluring, and so much is done out of so little. I can't stop listening.
@Martin Baldwin-Edwards partially disagree partially agree. Some of these pieces are not very ingenious but I wouldn't call them second rate either
Absolutely agree. These miniatures are so underrated and they gave pretty much the best out of all miniature repertoire out there for piano. Even without analysis can be heard and told so much from the structure, concept, forms, tone coloring, experimenting with the technique with effects with music picturing etc. Not to mention including Jewish traditional melodies, and inventions with tone sounding and techniques. And pretty much contributes to the ''French style'' showing what distinguishes it from German or other ones, esp at that time. It is not about ''ingeniousness'' but about the whole entity of these miniatures - and most important - they are all own beings, not any are similar and boring. Even non-classical listeners can find it enticing for any mood. At the end what is the criteria of an ''ingenious'' piece? are there at all such things, or did theorists and musicologists just advertised such as to be accepted publicaly x)
You should definitely check out Rebikov album de pieces faciles pour la jeunesse and Stravinsky 5 doigts
This is rather different from the Alkan I know of, and I think I love it.
Wow! I was not expecting what I heard in Increpatio. It's bewildering, but also beautiful.
It's very pleasant I can listen all esquisses in just single video. plz keep uploading more Alkan! Thanks
Is there any specific piece you would like to see?
Late as all hell, but thank you for making this video. These are easily some of Alkan’s most gorgeous works, and I really really hate to compare, but many of these even outshine much of Chopin and Liszt’s output too. This opus handily negates anyone who calls Alkan’s works unmusical - if they can’t appreciate this, then I don’t have a fucking clue what they’re getting out of his contemporaries lol.
Edit: While I’m here, I’ll also mention that Alkan’s piano abstractions are also on full display in this opus. He was amazing at taking concepts and turning them into music (i.e. pieces like “Le Grillon”, “Le Vent”, “Song of the Madwoman on the Seashore”, “Le Festin d’Esope”, “Le Chemin de Fer”, not to mention writing a fucking Symphony and Concerto for solo piano). Some of the most poetic piano writing in all of its history, which is especially impressive because it’s also some of the first of its kind.
I agree this is a discovery for me, and has musicality and are quite original… however Liszt’s works are a behemont!!
What's with the ridiculous expletives. And outshine liszt chopin 😂😂😂 they're pretty but nothing special
@@ciararespect4296 They’re just words 😂 Don’t wet yourself over it 😂😂😂 What’s with the ridiculous emojis? 😂😂😂😂😂 Also, they may be nothing special to you, but I’m willing to bet you also just don’t care as much about Alkan’s artistry as I do - which is fine, difference of opinion and all that - but they’re pretty damn special to me lol
@@Varooooooom 😂😂😂 i play alkan some of its good but I wasn't particularly enamoured to these. Still horses for courses. Glad you enjoy them
@@ciararespect4296 ok
I'm just beginning to listen to these, but the notturnino-innamorato already won my heart
its just so pretty
I love the scherzetto the most! So beautiful 😁
Yeah it's a really nice piece
#4 Les Cloches was the first Alkan piece I heard that convinced me he was more than just a "hard for sake of being hard" composer.
Omg the cadence at the end of 13 is just perfect
They are very... Esquissite (pun)
I want to play "Le Staccatissimo" just to fill it with pedal
Madlad
refined musical humor and irony, and, of course, self-irony, virtuoso lightness and ease, whatever the master joker Valentin Alkan was inspired by in these sketches! or - form of wisdom. Laus Deo
1:06:53 this goes harder than any transcendental piano piece ever written and it would take a lot to convince me otherwise
Wow that's a hot take
Rappers nowadays have to say “this rap shit is easy”, Alkan shows this romantic shit is easy to him by putting the cantabile right before the crescendo back into the main theme… I grew up on Chopin and Liszt but Alkan’s the guy the last few years that has me just shaking my head the most when I listen to him
Having worked on this piece pretty seriously, I concur it's hard. But it's certainly not beyond much of the challenging romantic repertoire.
@@mr2loser I'm pretty sure he wasn't talking about difficulty.
@@lisztomaniac2718 Re-reading the comment, I have to agree with you!
38:41 is really catchy, I love it
i love alknan's equisses
Le Laus Deo qui conclut le recueil est, de tous les morceaux à thème religieux que j'ai entendu d'Alkan, celui qui est emprunt de la spiritualité la plus profonde.
Ces esquisses sont réellement de petits chefs-d'œuvres !
Indeed! The previous one is a little masterpiece too :D
I get a late Faure vibe from much of these, especially no. 41 and no. 11.
Very nice alkan
🌸 Thank you! 🌸
24:54 The lick in Phrygian / Locrian
With all his pianistic acrobatics.. he opens with La Vision... Which ends with a fragment of a beautiful German song, Der Mond ist aufgegangen... Is it by accident?
I don't think so :)
Love no.45 sounds so fun
1:05:50 totally stuning
Amazing!!!
Great, thank you very much! Would be nice to know the pianist :-)
The pianist's name is now in the description, thank you for reminding me :D
@@GUILLOM :D
EPIC
Where in the world did they hide this composer from me?
He wasn’t in the boys club, so many others like him that also didn’t receive the respect they deserved because of politics. Glad you are discovering Alkan now.
The 37th one is my favorite.
Французский композитор Шарль Валантен Алькан написал эскиз фа-диез минор «Грации» op.63-19 из цикла «49 эскизов», где каждый из трёх мелодических голосов соответствует каждой из богинь - верхний - Красота (Аглая), средний, преимущественно на органном пункте cis - Чистота или Непорочность (Евфросина), нижний - Любовь (Талия). Также, 22-й эскиз, ре-бемоль мажор из этого же цикла, называется «Чистота» - он посвящён отдельно второй богине и невероятно благозвучен своим движением в терцию. Также, имя первой богини - Красота, фигурирует и в его первом экспромте, си мажор, op.32
Woweee
My favourites from the esquisses esquisses are toccatina, musique militaire, increpatio, en songe, scherzetto, les diablotins, tutti de concerto and laus deo.
42:59
53:00
How is no. 7 not a must listen?? 11:28
what is the piece starting at 36 minutes in. I've been searching under number 24 (as I see on the paper) and clicking on each of your song names, but i don't think each name listed in the description shows each individual song. thank you
My timestamp list includes every single piece in this video.
And the piece at minute 36 is indeed number 24
@@GUILLOM oh well id ont see it. thats why i spent so long lclickign through the 'names of songs part' o well i cant find it
@@GUILLOM dont kknow how to look up classical things at all with all these retarded numbers.
know i know that im right because i went back to look and there are NO TIME STAMPS!! it only lists 4-6 songs and then all of thewse myriad of songs get lost in between.
ive looked up some numberd songs before , but i need to know so much shit like the 'prelude vs other tyeps of sgongs. then the opera number, then the number then the home address etc
there are no time stamps. only major starts of songs not caounting the inbetween tineyer songs
@@ronniemillsap are you high lmfao
1:01:18
*gasp*
*STICK WAR IS REAAAAAALLLL*
1:03:50
32＆44
1:10:14 ...
So romantic,so Alkan
alk
ラウス・デオをオルガンで弾いたらさぞ美しいでしょう、ですが鐘の様な音色はオルガンでは出せないのでどうしたものか..
アルカンはオルガンの名手でもあり、ペダリエを愛した作曲家でもありました。
the first esquisse :)))))))))))))))))
Ok
@@ValzainLumivixOk
GUILLOM