Alkan's Esquisses - past, present and future

Charles Valentin Alkan's Esquisses op.63 are amongst his most highly praised compositions, for their consistency, originality, variety and concisely-focussed expression. They effectively rebuff criticisms sometimes levelled against this composer (even in the context of advocacy) of inconsistent quality of inspiration and excessive length. The title 'Esquisse' is apparently sui generis, though the deployment in four books running through all the major and minor keys twice links them to other projects by Alkan himself and other 19th, 18th and 20th-century composers. This article provides a selective review of the literature on these pieces, a comparative contextualisation (particularly in terms of genre) and a topical typology. The diversity and deployment of topics and allusions leads to a connection being outlined with the polystylism and postmodernism of the later 20th century.

© The Alkan Society. Published article reproduced in the Middlesex University Research Repository with permission from the Alkan Society.