Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813-1888) was originally born Charles-Valentin Morhange to a Jewish family in Paris. Like his siblings, he adopted his father’s first name as his own surname. A child prodigy as a pianist, Alkan became famous and known to the great composers of his age. However, when he was rejected in 1848 to be head of the Conservatoire de Paris, he retreated from the world and lived a reclusive life, continuing to compose and working on a French translation of the Talmud, which has now been lost. For unknown reasons, he re-emerged in 1873 to give concerts.

Almost all his music is for the keyboard, and he often incorporated Jewish motifs into his music. Despite his famous friends, his music was championed by a select few great composers after his death, and it was only during the 1960s that his music began to be appreciated by the general public for its technical difficulty and emotional complexity. Contrary to reports, Alkan did not die from being crushed under a bookcase while reaching for a copy of the Talmud, but was found unconscious under a coat rack by his concierge shortly before his death.