Symphony for Solo Piano (Alkan)

4–7 from the Douze études dans tous les tons mineurs (Twelve Studies in All the Minor Keys), Op.

"[1] Unlike a standard classical symphony, each movement is in a different key, rising in progressive tonality by a perfect fourth.

Marcia funebre sulla morte d’un Uomo da bene ['Funeral march on the death of a good man’], words which have sadly been lost in all subsequent editions.

Jack Gibbons wrote:[3] "The funeral march's sense of restraint is borne out by Alkan's marking over the gentle central section, 'with contained sorrow' .

The distant drum roll that interrupts the march near its close adds an Alkanesque sense of disquiet to this already sombre music."

Luguenot writes that "the Minuet in B♭ minor is in fact a scherzo that anticipates shades of Bruckner—full of energy and brightened by a lyrical trio.

Luguenot comments that "the final Presto in E♭ minor, memorably described by Raymond Lewenthal as a ‘ride in hell’, brings the work to a breathless close.