Symphony_for_Solo_Piano_(Charles-Valentin_Alkan)
The Symphony for Solo Piano is a large-scale romantic work for piano composed by Charles-Valentin Alkan and published in 1857.
Although it is generally performed as a self-contained work, it comprises études Nos. 4–7 from the Douze études dans tous les tons mineurs (Twelve Studies in All the Minor Keys), Op. 39, each title containing the word Symphonie (French: Symphony). The four movements are titled Allegro moderato, Marche funèbre, Menuet, and Finale. Much like the Concerto for Solo Piano (Nos. 8–10), the Symphony is written so as to evoke the broad palette of timbres and harmonic textures available to an orchestra. It is an early example of a piano symphony. In the opinion of François Luguenot, it "does not contain the excesses of [Alkan's] Concerto or the Grande Sonate (Op. 33). But, rather like [Alkan's] Sonatine Op. 61, it proves that Alkan was also capable of writing perfectly balanced and almost ‘Classical’ works."[1] Unlike a standard classical symphony, each movement is in a different key, rising in progressive tonality by a perfect fourth.[2]