Alkan compiled his Esquisses, or Sketches, in 1861. The individual pieces that make up the set were probably written during the previous fifteen years. They were published in four volumes, with the pieces arranged in key sequence. The range of musical reference within them is very great indeed. For instance, Le staccatissimo (track 2) suggests links between the age of the French clavecinistes of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries on the one hand, and Chopin and Schumann on the other. Confidence (track 9) evokes the form and texture of a Mendelssohn Song without Words, while Les soupirs (track 11) looks forward to Debussy. Esquisses ends with a postscript, Laus Deo, which evokes the solemn tolling of bells. This massive work is a fitting tribute to one of the nineteenth century’s master pianists.
Alkan, Charles-Valentin
Esquisses, Op. 63
1 La vision 03:03
2 Le staccatissimo 01:03
3 Le legatissimo 01:26
4 Les cloches 00:58
5 Les inities 02:28
6 Fuguette 01:31
7 Le frisson 01:45
8 Pseudo-Naivete 01:15
9 Confidence 02:14
10 Increpatio 01:25
11 Les soupirs 01:45
12 Barcarollette 01:15
13 Ressouvenir 02:49
14 Duettino 01:12
15 Tutti de Concerto dans le genre ancien 01:04
16 Fantaisie 01:18
17 Petit prelude a 3 00:44
18 Liedchen 01:11
19 Graces 01:35
20 Petite marche villageoise 01:43
21 Morituri te salutant 02:20
22 Innocenza 01:21
23 L'Homme aux sabots 00:38
24 Contredanse 01:05
25 La poursuite 00:43
26 Petit air 00:44
27 Rigaudon 00:58
28 Inflexibilite 00:55
29 Delire 00:54
30 Petit air dolent 01:30
31 Debut de quatuor 01:04
32 Minuettino 03:10
33 Fais Dodo 00:57
34 Odi profanum vulgus et arceo 02:28
35 Musique militaire 01:12
36 Toccatina 01:08
37 Scherzettino 01:00
38 Les bons souhaits 01:37
39 Heraclite et Democrite 02:11
40 Attendez-moi sous l'orme 00:42
41 Les enharmoniques 01:54
42 Petit air 00:55
43 Notturnino - Innamorato 01:15
44 Transports 00:45
45 Les diablotins 02:33
46 Le premier billet doux 01:02
47 Scherzetto 02:06
48 En songe 01:22
49 Laus Deo 04:17
