Stephanie McCallum, the pianist on this recording, has had an international career of over thirty years, appearing on over forty CDs and in hundreds of live performances.
Performer Biography
Stephanie McCallum made her critically acclaimed Wigmore Hall debut in 1982, where she gave what is believed to be the first performance of Alkan's Chants, Op. 70.
Composition History
The five books of Alkan's Chants were unified in his mind and overall form by a consistent key sequence and recurring pattern of genres, following Mendelssohn's first book of Songs without Words.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Alkan's music, while working within 19th-century harmonic and tonal language, is defined by a singular personality and a sense of far-sighted clarity that comes with isolation.
Recording & Production
This recording and its preceding volume were made possible with generous support from The Alkan Society and a research grant from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney.
Composer Biography
Alkan's five books of Chants were written from 1857 to 1872, during his most artistically mature and productive phase, after a period of self-imposed social and artistic seclusion.
Compositional Technique
Alkan's Chants push the boundaries of the 'Song without Words' genre, established by Mendelssohn, while still maintaining its framework.
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