Napoléon Alkan

Napoléon Alexandre Alkan, born as Napoléon Alexandre Morhange, (2 February 1826 – August 1906) was a French composer and music teacher.[1]

Biography

Alkan, born in 1826 in the French capital from Alkan Mohrange and Julie Abraham, became a student at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1835 where he studied piano with Pierre Zimmermann, organ with François Benoist and counterpoint and fugue with Adolphe Adam. In 1850 he won the First Second Grand Prix de Rome with the three-part scene Emma et Eginhard based on a poem by Anne Bignan.

He had been teaching at the Conservatoire since 1845 as a repetiteur for solfège. In June 1857, when he became a teacher, he taught in the class of military students, then from April 1866 was tenured as associate professor of solfeggio. He professed until 1 October 1896, when he retired at the age of 70. Ten years later, in 1906, he died in Paris, leaving a daughter: Mrs Emma Liernut. He composed a number of original piano works and piano transcriptions of works by classical composers such as Mozart and Haydn.

Alkan was one of six children of Alkan Morhange who took their father's first name as their last one. They all successfully attended the Conservatoire de Paris. Celeste Mayer-Marix (25 February 1811 – 1891) began her training at the Conservatoire at the age of seven and won first prize in solfège at the age of eleven. She ran a music store in Paris with her husband Mayer-Marix. Charles-Valentin Alkan became a well-known composer and piano virtuoso. Ernest Alkan (11 July 1816 – 1876) was a student of Jean-Louis Tulou and became known as a flutist. Some dances for the piano have been passed down from Maxime Alkan (28 May 1818 – 1891). The youngest of the siblings was Gustave Alkan (24 March 1827 – 1882).

References

  1. ↑ Biographische Daten von Napoléon Alkan bei "Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart: allgemeine Enzyklopädie der ...": Band 1, von Friedrich Blume, Ludwig Finscher - 1994, page 1996
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