Comme le vent

The beginning of the work's score, with its unusual tempo and time signature

Comme le vent (Like the wind) is the first of the Études in the minor keys, Op. 39 for solo piano by the French composer Charles-Valentin Alkan. It is in A minor. The tempo marking is prestissimamente ( = 160), and the unusual ²
₁₆ time signature further encourages a fast performance. The piece is mostly quiet, but is interrupted by short loud outbursts.

As might be expected of a study by Alkan, it is technically demanding. The piece requires digital velocity and dexterity, as well as stamina: lasting on average four and a half minutes, its 23 pages contains long passages of perpetual triplet-32nd notes (triplet demisemiquavers) for the right hand.

The piece is not to be confused with Alkan's earlier Le vent, one of the Trois morceaux op. 15. Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji considered the earlier piece to be better, making the later piece 'rather anticlimactic and redundant.'

External links

• Free scores by 12 Études in All the Minor Keys, Op. 39 at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
• Performance by Jack Gibbons
• Digital rendition by Youtube user celach