ABSTRACT
Many celebrated composers have a reputation for being unconventional or eccentric. But even in such company, Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813–1888) stands out. As Alan Ridout put it, Alkan “chose to live in a way that in no sense could be described as normal. His fantasy life was more important to him …. Alkan would have composed quite dift erently, though possibly as eft ectively, had he not been cursed, or blessed, with such a strong obsessional neurosis” (Smith 1987, v). Such a characterization, which directly relates his idiosyncratic musical style to his reputedly abnormal personality, is by no means uncommon in discussions of Alkan and his music. Indeed, it seems that for many, the image of Alkan's music is tightly bound up with that of a “mad” composer. 1
