CHARLES-VALENTIN ALKAN (1813-1888): 11 Pièces dans le style religieux, Op. 72, Etude Alla-Barbaro, Etude (from the Encyclopédie du Pianiste Compositeur - first recording).

Description: Alkan was a serious scholar of Jewish learning and ancient biblical texts, a preoccupation, not a pastime, that took precedence for him over music and the piano. The atmosphere and design of this Op. 72 cycle (completed in 1867) harkens back to the grave passion instilled in the earlier 25 Préludes Op. 31 (1847 - PCL10189). Several of the pieces venture beyond evocations of devotion to present psychologically probing dialogues of conflict and reconciliation. From the Revivalist sturdiness of the cycle’s opening number through the inward contemplation of No.2 to the austere fugue of No.3 and beyond, Alkan continues to spring surprises on the listener, including sudden harmonic clashes which abruptly break the tonal fabric and anticipate 20th-century trends of modernism. To the Op.72 cycle, Mark Viner adds a rarely heard Etude which Alkan originally composed for a pianistic encyclopedia compiled by his former professor. He concludes with the Etude Alla-Barbaro which was rediscovered as recently as 1996. Mark Viner (piano).