ALKAN, NAPOLÉON ALEXANDRE (Morhange):

By: Amélie André Gedalge

French pianist and composer; born in Paris, 1826. He was a brother of Charles Valentin Alkan, and, like him, entered the Conservatory of Music at a very early age. He studied under Adolphe Adam and Pierre Zimmerman. In 1850 he was appointed professor of solfeggio in the Conservatory, and held the appointment for nearly fifty years. Among the more prominent of his pupils were Bizet, Sarasate, Carvalho, Jules Cohen, the brothers Weniadski, Melchisédec, Taudou, and Risler.

Alkan has not achieved great distinction as a composer; nevertheless in 1890 he obtained the second prize for composition awarded by the French Institute. His most notable work is an "Étude Fuguée sur 'Le Prophète.'"

Bibliography:

Vapereau, Dict. des Contemporains, s.v.;
Larousse, Grand Dict. Universel, s.v. Paris, 1900;
Grove, Dict. of Music and Musicians, s.v. London, 1890;
H. Riemann, Musik-Lexikon, p. 23, Leipsic, 1900.

A. A. G.