Charles-Valentin Alkan

创建于2008-05-17     组长： 白色的蓝

法国作曲家阿尔坎其人其事

----台湾艺术大学专任副教授王润婷----

一 前言

如果有一天，你走进音乐厅想欣赏一点新鲜的钢琴音乐。你想逃避尖锐、无调性的现代乐，而单调无深度的音乐不能引起共鸣，历代音乐大师们的作品又太耳熟能详；你希望听到调性的，优美富诗意的声音，有闪亮的技巧展现并深具独创性的音乐。此时，法国作曲家阿尔坎的钢琴协奏曲作品39之8应是最佳曲目。对绝大多数的爱乐者而言，阿尔坎是一个陌生的名字；然而十九世纪中期，他却是李斯特口中当代一颗闪亮的钢琴巨星，布索尼并将之列入李斯特、肖邦、舒曼和勃拉姆斯同等地位的钢琴作曲家。

二 生平

查尔斯-瓦伦丹·阿尔坎 (Charles-Valentin Alkan) 1813年11月30日出生於法国巴黎。父亲是由阿什肯纳齐 (Ashkenazic，中欧地名) 移居法国的犹太人，在巴黎的布朗克-芒都大道 (Blancs-Manteaux) 经营一所预备学校。他在音乐方面的教学十分成功，曾有人将该校比喻为入音乐学院的预备校。父亲名为阿尔坎·摩尔汉惹(Alkan Morhange) 共生六名子女，阿尔坎排行老二，上有姐姐赛莉丝特 (Celeste)，下有四个弟弟。他们皆以父亲的名字当姓，原因不详。阿尔坎姊弟自小即显露音乐天份。阿尔坎本人为天才儿童型人物。他六岁进入巴黎音乐学院；八岁得「视唱」第一奖；九岁时，切鲁比尼 (Cherubini)曾经赞誉其为同龄孩子中最闪亮的一位；十岁得「钢琴」第一奖；十二岁得「和声」第一奖；二十岁得「管风琴」第一奖；十六岁至二十三岁在音乐学院教授「视唱」(Solfege) 课程。他曾经教导过法国著名音乐教育家娜娣亚·布兰洁的父亲。阿尔坎的姐姐赛莉丝特十一岁时也得到视唱第一奖，阿尔坎的三位弟弟共拿下八项音乐学院的第一奖和一个罗马大赛的第二奖。第三个弟弟拿破仑·阿尔坎终生任教於巴黎音乐学院。阿尔坎在孩童时期即享有声誉，时常受邀在莫丝科瓦公主 (The Princesse de la Moskova) 的宫中演奏.



他在音乐院的钢琴老师是约瑟夫·钦莫尔曼(P.J.Zimmermann)。钦莫尔曼对年轻的阿尔坎爱护备至，除了细心教导，聘他为教学助理，并引领阿尔坎进入巴黎文化社交圈。在那里阿尔坎认识了雨果、乔治桑、李斯特、肖邦、大仲马、小仲马 …。不喜欢与人打交道的肖邦与阿尔坎相处融洽，两人相知相惜。阿尔坎极为欣赏及崇拜肖邦，二人成为密友和邻居，住所靠近奥尔良 (d'Orleans) 广场，他们时常互换学生并同台演出。1838八年，阿尔坎和肖邦合开一场音乐会，该年阿尔坎的声誉大振，但是他对名声感到害怕；翌年，1839年便从舞台消失，至1844年才出现。阿尔坎的性格里有著极不协调的矛盾：一面他是天才型的演奏者，另一面他却厌恶演出；一面他有良好的社会关系，另一面他却厌世，容易对人感到失望；一面他对社会改革运动有兴趣，另一面却又支持拿破仑三世。他极端矛盾的性格，使他犹如置身於一条绳子的两端，不是这端，便是那端。 1844年阿尔坎努力克服性格上的不协和，重新出现於舞台时，连续弹奏两场演奏会。肖邦和李斯特皆出现於观众席上，多尔蒂克 (D'Ortigue) 称他的演奏「坚实有力，华丽且简洁严谨」。1845年他在艾拉尔音乐厅 (Salle Erard) 又弹奏两场，深获好评，乐界皆视他为当时主要的顶尖钢琴家。1848年，老师钦莫尔曼去世，原本寄望阿尔坎接替他在巴黎音乐学院的教职，然而音乐学院的主事者奥伯对阿尔坎敏感多刺的个性产生疑虑，最后将教职交给阿尔坎早年的学生马蒙泰尔(Marmontel)。这个打击使阿尔坎方伸出的触角又收了回去。此时法国因革命后的不安持续升高，许多音乐人士相继离开巴黎，肖邦在1849年去世，人事全非使阿尔坎对人生感到沮丧。1853年，他再度现身舞台，演奏两场内容大多以古典乐派及怀旧音乐为主的独奏会，随即又消失无踪。直至1873年，阔别二十年后，阿尔坎才回到音乐厅的演奏台上。漫长的二十年间，他除了作曲，并专研圣经和犹太教经典。1873年，阿尔坎已六十岁。人生至此，犹如平静的大海，内里的翻腾，不再显明於外。自该年起，他每年都在艾拉音乐厅或普雷耶尔音乐厅举行六场演奏会。他的曲目十分广泛，将各时期的作曲家以年代排列，把他们的钢琴曲做系列性演奏。他广传贝多芬后期及舒伯特的钢琴音乐，这在十九世纪后期是一件很稀罕的事，因为当时的音乐家皆疯狂热衷於浪漫乐派渲染夸张的音乐表达。1880年后，他每周两次出现在艾拉尔音乐厅，并於每日午后指导学生。1888年3月29日，传说他在寻找一本犹太教经典时，被倒塌下来的书架压倒，离开人世，享年七十五岁。1888年4月1 日葬於巴黎的蒙马特墓园。阿尔坎一生行事隐密，外人对其所知不多，官方纪录亦然。一生未婚，却有一位私生子名叫艾力-米利安·狄拉伯尔德 (Elie-Miriam Delaborde)；狄拉伯尔德是他的学生，后任教於巴黎音乐学院。他的穿著保守简朴，犹如清教徒。深居简出的他，不喜欢与人交际，害怕出现在众人面前，常疑虑自己的健康有问题。

三 作品特色


和肖邦一样，阿尔坎的音乐大部分是为钢琴而写。可能因为他性格上的「极端」所致，阿尔坎的音乐呈现长短差距极大，创作时期即不均衡的现象。许多作品长度不超过十二小节，而钢琴协奏曲作品39的第一乐章，却需要半小时才能奏完。



他的创作可分四个大时期来看：

一、1828至1840；
二、1844至1850；
三、1856至1861；
四、1870至1873。



每个时期之间都有几年是真空期，尤其以1862年至1870年间虚置最久。而最好的创作是写於1847年至1861年间。阿尔坎的第1号作品写作於 1828年，是一首钢琴变奏曲。1837年以前他的作品皆为变奏曲。1837年后，他开始崭露头角，作品逐渐加入了即兴曲、诙谐曲、幻想曲、舞曲、练习曲、奏鸣曲、赋格、前奏曲、触技曲、协奏曲、四手联弹 … 等各类浪漫时期和巴洛克时期流行的格式。除了钢琴作品，他还有少量的歌曲、管弦乐作品和室内乐。



第一首交响曲写作於1844年，乐谱已遗失。管弦乐作品和室内乐几乎都与钢琴有关。其中有两首是为钢琴写作的室内协奏曲，一首为小提琴和钢琴写作的二重协奏曲，一首是钢琴三重奏曲，一首为小提琴和钢琴创作的奏鸣曲。



1870年之后，可能与他的宗教信仰有关，作品偏向为踏板钢琴（注1）创作，名为《为三只手创作的…曲》，那些作品亦可在管风琴上演奏。阿尔坎还创作了一些专为 30键踏板键盘的练习曲，甚至有四脚连踏的练习曲。



阿尔坎是一位深具个人原创力的音乐家，他景仰巴哈、贝多芬，也崇拜肖邦等各时代的大师。由吸收、融合到创作，他的音乐拥有其个人的音乐语言，在音乐的表现上给予后人许多新的启发，他像一位先知，预告了未来创作的走向。十九世纪后半叶，是一个无限发展新音响的时代，作曲家们无不努力地让乐器发出惊人的声音，阿尔坎在钢琴技巧的拓展上有其正面的贡献，故其成就并不亚於李斯特。他的音乐要求演奏者具备高度的技巧、力度和表达力，最具代表性的作品为1847年的二十五首前奏曲作品31，1848年的大奏鸣曲《人生四个阶段》作品33 (Grand Sonata: Les Quatve Ages) 和十二首大调练习曲作品35，1857年的十二首小调练习曲作品39，1861年的小奏鸣曲作品61及四十八首《素描》作品63。



标题为《人生四个阶段》的大奏鸣曲以音乐描绘人一生中四个阶段：
第一乐章诙谐曲，描述人在二十岁的生命；
第二乐章描写三十岁的情景；
第三乐章慢板描述四十岁的经历；
第四乐章极缓慢，描述五十岁的心境。乐章的速度随著年岁的增长愈趋缓慢,最后归於终寂。



阿尔坎无论在曲式或调性的架构上，皆有他个人的见解，不落俗套。大型音乐时常开始与结束的调性不一致。在作品中亦常见模仿的语言，如作品45模仿边鼓的效果，作品60模仿蟋蟀声。甚至有作品模仿火车声音 …。其节奏亦充满著不规则的手法，作品32有五拍的乐曲，也有七拍的乐曲。这些似乎都预示了早期现代音乐的走向。作品76是分别给左手、右手及双手写作的练习曲，亦给后代斯克里亚宾、拉威尔及戈多夫斯基为左手写作的音乐，开创了一条崭新的路。



作品39虽名为练习曲，其难度和长度却非练习曲的范畴。作品共分两册。



上册有七首曲子，前三首分别为个性不同的单一练习曲，后四首则为标名《交响曲》的四个乐章。四个乐章即作品39的之4、5、6、7，全曲共有五十页乐谱，与李斯特改编贝多芬的一首交响曲等长，此曲是用钢琴弹奏的交响曲，阿尔坎期望在钢琴上奏出整个管弦乐团的音响。四个乐章分别为《中庸的快板》、《送葬进行曲》、《小步舞曲》和《终曲》。



第二册共五首，前三首为标名〈协奏曲〉的三个乐章、编号是作品39之8、9、10。这首协奏曲十分巨大，光是第一乐章弹奏起来便需要半小时，共有七十三页乐谱。第三乐章是一首炫丽的波兰舞曲。作品39之11标题为《序曲》，作品39之12是此套练习曲最为人熟知的音乐，标题为《伊索的筵席》(Le Festin，Aesope)，是一首变奏曲。阿尔坎以他超人的钢琴技巧在音乐上展现了一座动物园，里面有狗、鱼、跳蚤和鸟 …。此曲似乎将前面十一首练习曲的技巧全部浓缩表达。


四 作品39之8



作品39之8、9、10是阿尔坎1857年完成的三乐章钢琴协奏曲。整首作品以钢琴独奏的方式完成，钢琴身兼独奏者与管弦乐团。此曲阿尔坎在世时从未完整演出过。1872年，一位任教於莫斯科音乐院的德籍指挥兼钢琴家卡尔· 克林德伍斯（Karl Klindworth, 1830-1916）（注2）对此曲产生兴趣，著手为第一乐章进行管弦乐的配置。1885年至1888年，阿尔坎连续提供意见给当时已回德国柏林的克林德伍斯。阿尔坎去世后，克林德伍斯再次修改，终於在1902年完成作品39之8的管弦乐版本。虽然自1872年至1902年。克林德伍斯只完成一个乐章的管弦乐谱，但是他花了三十年的时间把这首原本是第一乐章的音乐，发展成一首单乐章独立的钢琴协奏曲。此后没有其他版本可以与之相比拟。



此曲调性为升G小调，奏鸣曲式的快板乐章。管弦乐从一开始便奏出简明有力的第一主题(Ex. 1)，经过门至E大调的第二主题。

第二主题(Ex. 2)充满了迷人的色彩，诗般的旋律配上宽阔的和声，使人宛若置身於空旷的北欧，呼吸著沁凉而甜美的空气，风轻吹拂面；勃拉姆斯的深刻内涵似乎重现於阿尔坎的音乐。装饰奏里重复敲击的音符，预告了下一世纪普罗科菲耶夫音乐的到来。



这首协奏曲充满了诗意的美和火焰般强烈的情感，阿尔坎对技巧及力度的要求极高，大量使用大跳的八度及和弦，音符上下快速进行，键盘似乎无法达到他内在热情的诉说境界。发热的音符，持续的高潮，衬托出这位隐居於人世间音乐家的至情至性。他的音乐组织架构没有肖邦那麼复杂，然而他的柔美话语却较李斯特深刻，高难度的技巧展现对钢琴家是一大挑战。


五 结语



马蒙泰尔在回忆中提到：当肖邦去世时，他最亲近的学生们曾推举阿尔坎是唯一能延续浪漫派大师肖邦钢琴音乐传统的作曲家。阿尔坎在世时极少公开演奏自己的作品，导致他生前与死后，世人对他的音乐创作一无所知。近几年法国和英国皆成立了「阿尔坎音乐协会」。2002年10月24日英国剑桥的费兹威廉学院和阿尔坎音乐协会联合举办“阿尔坎钢琴大赛”，参赛者以弹奏阿尔坎的作品为主。费兹威廉学院并设有“阿尔坎奖学金”。钢琴家自1961年后陆续有人录制他的音乐，如法国的马尔克-安德列·哈默林 (Marc-Andre' Hamelin) 录制《阿尔坎钢琴协奏曲》三个乐章、大奏鸣曲和小奏鸣曲。雷蒙·勒文达尔 (Raymond Lewenthal) 录制《阿尔坎的钢琴音乐》由BMG发行。罗纳尔·史密斯 (Ronald Smith) 为EMI录制作品39的十二首音乐和大奏鸣曲。此外，他的室内乐及其他钢琴作品亦有人录制。



阿尔坎这位舒曼笔下“钢琴音乐的柏辽兹”在去世一个世纪后，方才渐露光芒，个中原因耐人寻味，值得深入探讨。天才虽有其得天独厚的一面，其性格上却有软弱的一面。他们敏感的特质，一面使他们在音乐艺术上绽放异彩，一面却让他们处於不安的现实生活中。钢琴家霍洛维兹在演奏生涯中亦多次消失—复出於舞台，在炫丽的音乐背后是一颗备受煎熬的心。对自我完美的要求，让他们无法面对过度的演出与消耗，不愿向世俗推销自己的作品。他们需要净心，需要长时间自我审视。阿尔坎拥有创作的内在欲望，却不敢在真实的舞台上展现自己的作品。高度的自我期许使他恐惧自我的音乐不够完美，天才们内在的自负与自卑，使阿尔坎至终在宗教信仰中求得了平衡。



注释



1 踏板钢琴 (pedal-piano) 制作起源於十九世纪中叶。钢琴本身除手键盘外，另加入踏板键盘，供管风琴手在家中练习使用。1843年路易斯·肖恩 (Louis Schone) 在莱比锡为舒曼及门德尔松制作过此类钢琴。舒曼及阿尔坎则是为这项乐器创作过音乐的作曲家。



2 卡尔·克林德伍斯 (Karl Klindworth) 1830年生於德国汉诺威，1916年逝於史托尔伯、他是德国钢琴家，指挥家及作曲家。1852年师从李斯特。1854年至1868年在伦敦工作。 1868年至1881年任莫斯科音乐院钢琴教授。1882年返德定居柏林，创立一所钢琴音乐学校。曾为华格纳的《指环》编作钢琴版，为肖邦作品编考订本。




参考资料



Alkan(1998). Le Festin d'Esope and other works for solo piano. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola, New York.
——. Piano Concerto Op. 39, Concerto da camera No. 1-3. Dmitry Feofanov piano.
——. 25 Preludes Op. 31, Decca, London.
——. 12 Etudes Op. 39, Jack Gibbons, piano. ASV cd.
——. Trios Grandes Etudes Op. 76. Marc-Andre Hamelin, piano.
——. Le festin d'esope Op. 39, N0. 1. Reymond Lewenthal, piano.
——. http://www.trovar.com/alkan.html.
http://www.hnh.com/composer/alkan.htm.
http://www.composermusic.com/search/composer/Alkan.htm
Dolge, Alfred. Pianos and their Makers.
http://www.pianoworld.com/fun/pedal.htm
Eigeldinger, Jean-Jacques(1986). Chopin, pianist and teacher—as seen by his pupils. Cambridge University Press.
Franco-Sappery, Brigitte(1991). Charles-Valentin Alkan. Fayard, Paris.
Ho, Allan B. A Program Note of Alkan Concerto Op. 39.
Lewenthal, Raymond(1964). The Piano Music of Alkan. Schirmer.
Penrose, James F. The strange case of Charles Valentin Alkan.
http://www.newcriterion.com/archive/11/may 93/alkan.htm
Purl, Douglas. Alkan http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/alkan.htm
Sadie, Stanley(2000). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Vol. I.
Smith, Ronald(1976). Alkan Vol. I. The Enigma. Kahn & Averill, London.
——(1987). Alkan Vol. Ⅱ. The Music. Kahn & Averill, London.
The Alkan Society. http://www.alkansociety.org
Wang, Jun-Ting. A Program Note of Alkan Concerto Op. 39.



From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Charles-Valentin Alkan[a] (November 30, 1813–March 29, 1888) was a French composer and one of the greatest virtuoso pianists of his day. His attachment to his Jewish origins is displayed both in his life and his work.[1] He entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of six, earning many awards, and as an adult became a famous virtuoso and teacher. Although early in his life he was socially active and good friends with prominent musicians and artists including Eugène Delacroix, Franz Liszt and Frédéric Chopin, he gradually withdrew from the concert platform after 1848, and he lived as a recluse in Paris until his death.[2]
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Biography
o 1.1 Life and career
o 1.2 Death
* 2 Music
* 3 Notes
* 4 References
* 5 External links
o 5.1 About Alkan
o 5.2 Scores and sheet-music

[edit] Biography

[edit] Life and career
Alkan had a reputation for being asocial, and rarely performed in public after 1848.
Alkan had a reputation for being asocial, and rarely performed in public after 1848.

Alkan was born Charles-Valentin Morhange on November 30, 1813 in Paris, rue des Blancs-Manteaux, to Alkan Morhange (1780–1855) and Julie Morhange née Abraham.[3] He was the second of six children, one elder sister and four younger brothers, and his father supported the family as the proprietor of a private music school in Le Marais.[2] His opus 1 dates from 1828, when he was 14 years old.[4]

In his twenties, he taught and played concerts in elegant social circles, and was friends with Franz Liszt, George Sand, Anton Rubinstein, and Victor Hugo.[2] In the 1840s, he lived next to Frédéric Chopin,[5] and after Chopin died in 1849, most of the students transferred to Alkan.[2] By 1838, at just 25 years old, Alkan had reached the peak of his career. He often performed with Chopin, and was famed as a virtuoso rivaling Liszt, Sigismond Thalberg, and Friedrich Kalkbrenner.[6] Liszt once stated that Alkan had the most perfect technique he had ever seen.[7] At this time, (which coincides with the birth and childhood of his presumed son, Elie-Miriam Delaborde), he withdrew into private study and composition for six years, returning to the concert platform in 1844. In 1848 Daniel Auber, the head of the Conservatoire, replaced Zimmerman (whom Alkan had hoped to succeed) with Antoine Marmontel, Alkan's pupil. This, along with Chopin's death in 1849 caused Alkan to return to seclusion for 25 years.[6]

In spite of his early fame and technical accomplishment, Alkan thus spent much of his life after 1850 in obscurity, performing in public only occasionally. In his last decade he emerged to give a series of 'Petits Concerts' at the Erard piano showrooms, which featured music not only by himself but of his favourite composers from Bach onwards. He was occasionally assisted in these concerts by his siblings. Those attending included Vincent d'Indy.
Alkan
Alkan

There are periods of Alkan's life about which little is known, other than that he was immersed in the study of the Bible and the Talmud. It appears from his correspondence with Ferdinand Hiller that Alkan completed a full translation into French of both the Old Testament and the New Testament, from their original languages. This has been completely lost, as have many of Alkan's compositions. Amongst the missing works are some string sextets and a full-scale orchestral symphony, quite different from the Symphony for piano solo in opus 39, which was described in an article in 1846 by Léon Kreutzer, to whom Alkan had shown the score.

The pianist Elie-Miriam Delaborde (1839–1913) is generally believed to be Alkan's illegitimate son; his mother has not been identified. He was taught by Alkan in his youth and performed and edited many of Alkan's works; like his father he was a notable pédalier player.

[edit] Death
Tomb of Charles-Valentin Alkan, Cimetière de Montmartre, Paris.
Tomb of Charles-Valentin Alkan, Cimetière de Montmartre, Paris.

Alkan died in Paris in 1888 at the age of 74. For many years it was believed that his death was caused by a bookcase falling on him in his home, brought down as he reached for a volume of the Talmud from a high shelf. This apocryphal tale, which appears to have been circulated by Delaborde, has been effectively disproved by Hugh Macdonald, who reports a contemporary letter from one of Alkan's pupils explaining that Alkan had died following being trapped beneath a falling port-parapluie (a heavy coat/umbrella rack).[8] The story of the bookcase may have its roots in a legend told of the Rabbi Aryeh Leib ben Asher, known as 'Shaagat Aryeh', rabbi of Metz, the town from which Alkan's family originated. Alkan was buried on Easter Sunday (April 1) in the Cimetière de Montmartre, Paris.[2]

A myth also circulates about an alleged obituary of Alkan, cited as fact in Ronald Smith's biography of the composer and since widely quoted, credited to the magazine 'Le Ménéstrel', beginning with the words "Alkan is dead. He had to die in order to prove his existence." No such obituary appeared in 'Le Ménéstrel' and none has been located to date in any other contemporary journal.

[edit] Music

See also: List of compositions by Charles-Valentin Alkan

Like Chopin, Alkan wrote almost exclusively for the keyboard, although in Alkan's case this included the organ and the pédalier (a piano with a pedal board), of which he was a noted exponent. Some of his music requires a dazzling virtuosity, examples of his compositions calling for velocity, enormous leaps at speed, long stretches of fast repeated notes, and the maintenance of widely-spaced contrapuntal lines. His music has been reviewed as "ferociously" and even "impossibly" difficult to play.[5][9]

Notable compositions include the Grande sonate Les quatre âges (Op. 33), depicting the Four Ages of Man, and the two sets of etudes in all the major and minor keys (Op. 35 and 39, respectively). These are held by some to surpass even the Transcendental Etudes of Liszt in scale and difficulty. The opus 39 collection contains the Symphony for Solo Piano (numbers four, five, six and seven), and the Concerto for Solo Piano (numbers eight, nine and ten).

The Concerto of op. 39 alone takes nearly an hour to play, and presents a great challenge to the performer. Marc-André Hamelin said of Alkan's music:

"The aspect of Alkan that is most apparent when people who don't know him listen to him for the first time is that his music is difficult to play... But in a way, I wish that it did not take a formidable technique to play... But the great musical worth of Alkan's music makes it worthwhile to master those difficulties, even though it would take a lot of time."

Alkan's music frequently displays idiosyncratic features, including nonstandard key signature and pedal notation. (Extract from 2nd movement of the sonata Les quatre âges).
Alkan's music frequently displays idiosyncratic features, including nonstandard key signature and pedal notation. (Extract from 2nd movement of the sonata Les quatre âges).

Number twelve of Op. 39 is a set of variations Le festin d'Ésope ("Aesop's Feast"). Alkan also composed other programmatic pieces, such as Le chemin de fer ("The Railroad", Op. 27) which may be the earliest composition giving a musical picture of a steam train.

Alkan's chamber music compositions include a violin sonata, a cello sonata, and a piano trio. One of his most bizarre pieces is the Marcia funèbre, sulla morte d'un Pappagallo ("Funeral march on the death of a parrot", 1859), for three oboes, bassoon and voices.

Musically, many of his ideas were unconventional, even innovative. Some of his multi-movement compositions show "progressive tonality" which would have been familiar to the later Danish composer, Carl Nielsen (for example, Alkan's first chamber concerto begins in A minor and ends in E major). He was rigorous in avoiding enharmonic spelling, occasionally modulating to keys containing double-sharps or double-flats, so pianists are occasionally required to come to terms with distant keys such as E# major and the occasional triple-sharp.[b]


Alkan seems to have had few followers, although his admirers included Ferruccio Busoni and Anton Rubinstein. The latter dedicated a concerto to him. Debussy and Ravel both studied his music under teachers who knew Alkan personally and noted their debt to his examples. The composer Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji promoted Alkan's music in his reviews and criticism, and composed a work with a movement entitled Quasi Alkan.

More recently Ronald Stevenson has composed a piano piece Le festin d'Alkan (referring to Alkan's op. 39 no.12) and the composer Michael Finnissy has also written piano pieces referring to Alkan, e.g. Alkan-Paganini, no.5 of The History of Photography in Sound. Marc-André Hamelin's Étude no. IV[10] is a moto perpetuo study combining themes from Alkan's Symphony op. 39 no. 7 and Alkan's own perpetual motion etude op. 76 no.3. It is dedicated to Averil Kovacs and François Luguenot, respectively activists in the English and French Alkan Societies.

Alkan's organ compositions were known to César Franck, Camille Saint-Saëns and others and their influence can be traced in the French organ school up to the present day.

For many years after his death, Alkan's work was almost completely forgotten. There has been a steady revival of interest in his compositions over the course of the twentieth century. Works by Alkan have been recorded by Egon Petri, John Ogdon, Raymond Lewenthal, Ronald Smith, Jack Gibbons, Mark Latimer, Stephanie McCallum, Alan Weiss and Marc-André Hamelin.