Virtuosity and innovation : the grotesque aesthetic in the piano music of C.-V. Alkan
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Stephen Saviola (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
- Advisor
- Andrew Willis
Abstract: Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813-1888) wrote some of the most individual and eccentric piano music of the nineteenth century. His scores, which often reach titanic lengths and levels of difficulty, have left critics and audiences somewhat bewildered to this day. This document proposes the grotesque aesthetic as a key to understanding Alkan’s musical language, providing an expressive guide that synthesizes the technical demands, harmonic innovations, and explorations of keyboard sonority found in some of his more daring compositions. Alkan’s virtuosity manifests the grotesque through his mechanical treatment of the piano, density of texture, and intensity of expression, which distort the normal capacities of the human body and its role in music making. Special consideration is given to three pieces drawn from Alkan’s Vingt-Cinq Préludes, Op. 31 (1847) and Esquisses, Op. 63 (1861), each of which expresses the grotesque through non-virtuosic innovations in harmony and timbre. Finally, “Le Festin d’Ésope,” a component etude of Douze études dans tous les tons mineurs, Op. 39 (1857) in the form of a large theme-and-variations set, is investigated as the epitome of Alkan’s grotesque style. Topic theory is used to contextualize the virtuosic, harmonic, and structural distortions that pervade this sardonic masterpiece.
Virtuosity and innovation : the grotesque aesthetic in the piano music of C.-V. Alkan
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Created on 12/1/2021
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Dissertation
- Language: English
- Date: 2021
- Keywords
- Alkan, Etude, Grotesque, Piano, Theme and variations, Virtuoso
- Subjects
- Alkan, Charles-Valentin, $d 1813-1888. $t Pre´ludes dans tous les tons majeurs et mineurs $x Anaysis, appreciation
- Alkan, Charles-Valentin, $d 1813-1888. $t Motifs $x Anaysis, appreciation
- Alkan, Charles-Valentin, $d 1813-1888. $t E´tudes dans les tons mineurs. $p Festin d'E´sope $x Anaysis, appreciation