u/MyNameIsntJMack

So we remember the nostalgia ❤️

The video is created by me so from my tiktok.. Hope you remember and enjoy the nostalgic performance!

Video is from youtube!

This is allegreto alla barbareska a end of the Concerto for solo piano written by Charles Valentin Alkan.

I wanted to discuss the thing why alkan is not so popular but now know it better why is it so.

I really wanted to know more about Kabbalah and Gematria and how Alkan uses it in this concerto and other works and maybe even knowing what each part represents! I would also like to highlight the fact that this movement has 1324 measures, if we add the numbers like this 1+3+2+4=10, this might represent the Sefriot in the Kabbalah. He also seems to use the number 10 in his 11 pieces in the religious style Op. 72 No. 11. I would also like to mention that the 1st movement is Op. 39 No. 8, The 8th Hebrew letter sybolizes life and Adam was created on the 8th day according to the bible. And for the 2nd movement Op. 39 No. 9 which mainly represents Caine killing his brother Abel as you've mentioned. And the word for brother in hebrew has the value of 9. There is also the fact that the 9th letter represents duality: Tet represents the "hidden good" (tov) that resides within the womb, but it can also be inverted to represent the potential for hidden evil or impurity. It is a vessel that can contain either. The letter is often seen as containing two parts, the Vav and Zayin, which can symbolize a person either bowing in humility (good) or acting in rebellion (evil), depicted as a serpent. I would also like to suggest that maybe the 2nd movement of the Symphony Op. 39 No. 5 titled "Marcia funebre sulla morte d'un Uomo da bene" (Funeral March on the Death of a Good Man), this movement might be about Abel's funeral... So I thought that maybe some of the etudes in Op. 39 might be connected in some way. I would also like to know more about the Symphony and Ouverture. I'm not sure if they have similar stories and Gematria codes but I'm really intrested to know more about them! I would also like to point out that Alkan's technique is unique: his figerings are unique and they're consistent, he keeps using the exact same fingerings for long passages. I thought that he might be hiding some Gematria in them, I'm not sure if it's just my imagination but I'm just proposing this seemingly idiotic idea. But there is the fingerings in the very very long trill that spans 1 whole minute if I remember correctly of his prayer Op. 64 No. 4, he uses 1324 which's basically torture for any pianist, so I thought that it might have a symbolic meaning rather than just technical, especially that it's a prayer. I'm just saying what I think, that doesn't mean that whatever I said is a fact. I would also like to know if the pieces might have secondary stories like looking at the piece's story from another perspective since in Kabbalah, they believe that the bible has complex layers to it, for example In Kabbalah, the story of Adam and Eve in Eden is not a literal historical event about a fruit tree and a talking snake. Instead, it is a profound metaphysical blueprint detailing cosmic fragmentation, the descent of divine consciousness into matter, and the origin of free will. I also think that the fact that the total amount of measures is 1324 which as I said earlier equals 10 might be connected to this story form the Kabbalistic perspective.

Now about the fact that we don't know the precise reasons to why Alkan withdrew is kind of correct and misleading, we know about what happened before he became a recluse. In the summer of 1848 Alkan’s old teacher Joseph Zimmerman released his position as professor at the Paris Conservatory. In nominating a successor its director Daniel Auber found himself with four main applicants: Charles-Valentin Alkan, Émile Prudent, Louis Lacombe, and, surprisingly, the poorly merited solfège teacher Antoine Marmontel (1816-1898). What Marmontel had in his favor was a friendship with Auber, and it appears to have been through a combination of flattery and truth bending, in claiming pupils who had received the majority of their training from Chopin, Herz, or Alkan himself, that he eventually secured the position. Zimmerman, as the teacher of all four applicants, chose not to intervene. Alkan saw himself as the natural heir of the professorship and asked for more time when he saw where the nomination was heading, to collect endorsements from “for example, among the pianists MM. Liszt, Chopin, Thalberg etc; among the critics MM. Fétis, Berlioz etc; and finally amongst the instrumentalists of every sort, through the most justly famous names in all of Europe.” But to no avail. Alkan reached no higher than to No.3 on Auber’s list. Donatien Marquis – who was a politician – wrote to Monsieur Raynal in 1848 saying: “Mr. Marmontel is quite simply a solfège teacher who was given Mr. Herz’s class in his absence. Those pupils are obliged to follow his course were forced to seek lessons outside the college. Mr. Alkan does not owe his reputation to publicity, to flattering women, to an ‘Air Varié’ on popular tunes. He loves art for art’s sake. He has opposed charlatanism for twenty-three years and has confidence in the justice of mankind.” Alkan says in a letter to G. Sand (not the full letter but condensed): "My rivals, one above all – the most unworthy – are gaining ground each day. I see the ‘École’ threatened by the most unbelievable, the most disgraceful nomination. Come to my help, Madam, by being willing to make your voice heard. Otherwise, M. Auber, who does not like me at all, in returning the friendship of Marmontel, who will dishonour the Conservatoire, will regain the ground which is a new system of nomination, under which I had some chance, had made him lose, and he will ruin my candidature.” He also sent a letter to Charles Blanc, Minister of the Interior saying: "If you uphold the administrator of the Department of Fine Arts, I will be elected. If you discover public opinion instead of a faction, I will be elected. If you gather the votes of all the leading musicians of Europe, I will be elected. If you judge the competition on three aspects – performance, composition and teaching – I will be elected. If you would postpone your decision until the new plan for adjustment takes place despite the influences exercised over a significant portion of teachers, I would still be elected by a large majority and would very likely inspire the vote of students.” And in another letter to G. Sand he says: “In spite of my positive rights, in spite of your all-powerful support, Madam, I have failed. The Republic, for which I have a most ardent love, allows strange blunders to be made. So far as my own sphere is concerned I felt disposed to educate a whole generation in musical matters and I have to give way, not to a worthy or even unworthy rival, but to one of the most total nonentities I can think of.” And in another letter to Féris in 1852, he says: "Marmontel is one of the poorest musical minds which has been reared on solfège and the classical piano literature. He will take an Adagio by Mozart which he does not understand, and only release it decked out with a feather, dressed up in riding boots and adorned with spurs. Hummel, Mendelssohn and Beethoven (especially in his later works) can defend themselves to a certain extent because of the more numerous markings in their music and the greater exactness of their notation, but Mozart whose method of notation corresponds to the ideas expressed, whose restrained expression marks and genius in accentuation is so attuned to his divine genius – such care will never be paid by Marmontel to Mozart’s work.” And another one to Fétis, the same year: “I am burning away without giving out any light.” Marmontel's tenure at the Paris Conservatory was long and distinguished. He remained on the post for 39 years, during which he shaped several of Europe’s leading pianists (e.g. Francis Planté), pedagogues (e.g. Louis Diémer) and composers (e.g. Claude Debussy). By the end of the century France had become Europe’s dominant cultural force, and had by and large traveled in the direction Marmontel, on the musical side, had pointed. All the same it’s fascinating to speculate how France’s musical future would have looked if Alkan had been accorded the professorship instead. The pianists whenen had appeared alongside him in post-Napoleonic France were all lighter, salon-like characters. The exception was Alkan who, as the musical press remembered at the time of his Petits Concerts in the 1870s, had been virtually alone among France’s native pianists to resist the trend. We’d undoubtedly recognize Alkan as a French pianist had he appeared among us today, with the brisk and brilliant fingerwork, the distinctness, and the structural clarity of his playing. But he had something else besides. Intellectuality, nobility, and a severe and elevated style – which interestingly was seen as backward-looking by his fellow Parisians. By handing the post as Zimmerman’s successor to one of the salon figures, it could be that French piano playing lost a part of its national character. As it turned out French piano playing became characterized during the next 100 years by simplicity, elegance, and joie-de-vivre – characteristics which are easily traced to the lighter style Marmontel represented. One professorship does not change the character of a nation, but the seat Zimmerman left vacant in 1848 proved to be a key position. Had Alkan been put there in Marmontel’s place, French piano playing had likely retained more of its roots to Napoleonic France, and may have emerged in a somewhat different flavor in the 1900s than the style we know today. After what Marmonter did to Alkan, he wrote his magnanimous and important article on his old rival and teacher Alkan which was first published in the May 13, 1877 issue of Le Ménestrel (his series was later incorporated into a book, Les pianistes célèbres, where it had greater spread). Much of the biographical information we have about Alkan comes from these pages, along with one of the sharpest assessments of his piano playing in old age. It's as if he's asking Alkan for forgiveness, after all of those decades... I also forgot to mention what Delacroix wrote in his diary: “Saw Alard again at the convoy, who took me with him in his couch. He is not sufficiently imbued with the memory of Mr. Dosne’s virtues to go and spend an hour in a church in his honor. From there to Chopin: Alkan was there. He tells me something about himself similar to my story with Thiers. For having stood up to Auber, he has experienced and will no doubt continue to experience great inconvenience.” But Alkan didn't become recluse after all of this it was his friend and neighbor Chopin's death that he couldn't bear that he became so depressed These 2 are the primary causes for Alkan's depression and misanthropy He wrote to his friend Hiller in 1861: “I’m becoming daily more and more misanthropic and misogynous. Nothing worthwhile, good or useful to do. No one to devote myself to. My situation makes me horridly sad and wretched. Even musical production has lost its attraction for me for I can’t see the point or goal.” He also became so ill as mentioned multiple times like in his letter to Hiller in 1857: “I give lessons during the day, while in the evening, during those few moments of lucidity, spared me by my illness, I am correcting the proofs of my new Sonata for piano and basse [Op.47] which I am having printed myself. I would so much like to play this at Érard’s but my poor health prevents it.” He had few friends that he would talk or write to afterwards, especially those like Hiller, Fétis and Liszt. (Not counting friends that participated with Alkan in his later concerts) I'd also like to mention that about 4 months before this happened to Alkan. He in a Private soirée February 13, 1848, at the residence of Joseph d’Ortigue, he played his 2 marches: “Funeral March Op. 26 and Triumphant March Op. 27.” Meyerbeer was present that evening, from whom we learn the repertoire which he found "highly original". He then asked Alkan to transcribe for him for solo piano his overture of his forthecomming opera "Le Prophète". Alkan asked him if he could do another one for 4 hands and Meyerbeer agreed! In December 18, 1849 at Alkan's Residence: he played in a private performance his arrangement of Meyerbeer's Overture to Le Prophète (for 4 hands). For Giacomo Meyerbeer, who had handed the score of the original to Alkan on November 3 1848. Meyerbeer simply says Alkan played his 4H arrangement, so there may not have been a second pianist. After 3 years of silence (except for writing some letters), he'd come back to performing in concerts along with Alard and Franchomme for 4 months, 8 concerts, (and 1 concert where he played Bach's Concerto for Three Harpsichords & Orchestra with Hiller and Tellefsen for the Association de bienfaisance allemande). Most of the pieces performed were Trios, and works by Alkan for solo piano and piano-pédalier. He'd completely withdraw after this for about 20 years. I forgot to mention that he didn't actually completely withdraw except after the Universal Expedition in 1855: A. de Bertha says in his "Ch. Valentin Alkan aîné, Étude Psycho-Musicale" which was published in the "Bulletin français de la Société Internationale Musicale" (Paris) 1909, issue I. In a footnote, he says: "He told me the following anecdote in this regard: At the Universal Exhibition of 1855, he was the one who demonstrated Erard pianos and pedalboards at the Palais de l’Industrie. One day he performed Bach’s Fugue in E minor. After listening to it attentively, a gentleman said to him: “Your fugue is very well done, but it doesn’t modulate! That’s a shame!” That is to say, this stranger, whose name Alkan never knew, was unfamiliar with Bach’s works, yet musical enough to know that a fugue subject should be presented in several relative keys, and while also noticing that, in the fugue in question, the great Sebastian did not, in fact, leave the key of E minor." He most likely played Bach's fugue from BWV 533 which I really like! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HZrqD5fwgA And about the fact that Delaborde is or isn't his son pretty much everyone accepted that Delaborde was Alkan's son: Alkan disappeared from Paris‘ cultural life in 1838. The reason was probably an out-of-marriage liaison with his presumed pupil Lina-Eraïm Miriam, which led to that he was now about to become a father. Eraïm-Miriam Delaborde (a.k.a. Élie-Miriam Delaborde) was born on February 8, 1839, and grew up to become an accomplished pianist, who would later perform and edit his father’s works. Alkan is believed to have spent the next five years teaching and raising Eraïm-Miriam, before gradually returning to concert life in 1843. There is also the fact that his name is Eraim Miriam which sounds pretty Jewish, most

French people of that time wouldn't name their children like that there are alot of things that may indicate that he was Alkan's son

and about the Bizet thing, you can learn more from here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Élie-Miriam_Delaborde#Affairs