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Étude Op. 39 No. 7 (Symphony: Finale)

Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813–1888) · sheet music

  • Time 4/4
  • Levels 9
  • Passages 2

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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Charles-Valentin Alkan, French romantic (1813–1888). The reading release has 2 passages from this piece at level 9; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 141–144 for both hands together.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 141–144 at level 9.

Your practice path

Learn it the way teachers do: each hand on its own, then together, then the hard bars. Each step is a real graded passage of Étude Op. 39 No. 7 (Symphony: Finale).

  1. Hands together · bars 141–144 level 9

How to play Étude Op. 39 No. 7 (Symphony: Finale)

  1. Tempo:Start every section at half speed or slower. Alkan's markings are demanding, and the page here is hard enough that a steady slow pulse is the only way to see the notes.
  2. Right hand:In the passages here the right hand plays in octaves, mostly stepping by scale. Read the top note as the line and let the thumb follow an octave below.
  3. Left hand:The left hand doubles the right hand's octaves two octaves lower. Check that both hands begin each group on the same letter name, then read just one line.
  4. Hands together:Put the hands together only after each hand can play its line without looking. Use a metronome at a slow speed and raise it a few clicks at a time.
  5. Fingering:Mark a fingering for each wide chord or run on the first pass and keep it the same every time. In these études a changed fingering is a new hurdle.
  6. Pedal:Use the pedal sparingly and listen for harmonic blur in the dense chord passages; many of these études are clearer with less pedal.
  7. Practice:Work in four-bar chunks, as the page presents them, then link them. Stop when your wrists tighten; repeated octaves at speed can cause strain.
  8. Reading:Check the four sharps before you start: the finale is in E-flat minor, but this stretch is written in sharps, so the key signature flips completely.

Common mistakes

  • Playing the full tempo too soon and blurring the chords. Fix: Slow down until each chord sounds clean, then build speed.
  • Carrying flats over from the E-flat minor music into the four-sharp passage. Fix: Say the four sharps aloud before playing and mark any accidental that leaves the key.
  • Tensing the shoulders on the large chords. Fix: Play the chord shape slowly, drop the arm weight into it, and release between chords.

Structure: set of twelve études, with a symphony and a concerto inside

The twelve études move through the minor keys in turn, but several of them group into larger works: Nos. 4 to 7 make a four-movement symphony and Nos. 8 to 10 a three-movement concerto. No. 7, the symphony's finale, runs at Presto in E-flat minor, passes through a long stretch written in four sharps, and ends in E-flat major.

Nos. 1-3 · Comme le vent, En rythme molossique, Scherzo diabolico
Three free-standing studies in A minor, D minor and G minor, marked Prestissimamente, Risoluto and Prestissimo.
Nos. 4-7 · Symphony for solo piano (C minor to E-flat minor)
Allegro moderato, funeral march, minuet and Presto finale. The finale, No. 7, is the source of this page's passages, with its octaves doubled in both hands.
Nos. 8-10 · Concerto for solo piano
A huge Allegro assai in G-sharp minor, an Adagio in C-sharp minor and an Allegretto alla barbaresca in F-sharp minor.
Nos. 11-12 · Ouverture and Le Festin d'Ésope (B minor, E minor)
An overture in B minor, then a theme and variations in E minor that closes the set.

About Étude Op. 39 No. 7 (Symphony: Finale)

Charles-Valentin Alkan published his Douze études dans tous les tons mineurs, Op. 39, with Richault in Paris in 1857 and dedicated them to the scholar François-Joseph Fétis. Each étude is in a different minor key, starting in A minor and ending in E minor.

Four of the études, Nos. 4 to 7, form a Symphony for solo piano: an Allegro moderato in C minor, a funeral march, a minuet, and a Presto finale in E-flat minor. Nos. 8 to 10 form a Concerto for solo piano whose first movement alone runs about half an hour. The set ends with Le Festin d'Ésope, a theme and variations.

The set marked Alkan's return after years of near-silence that followed Chopin's death in 1849, when he stopped performing even for friends. Long neglected afterward, the études have gained ground through recordings, and Henle now issues the Symphony on its own.

  • The first movement of the Concerto for solo piano in this set lasts about thirty minutes on its own.
  • In print, the twelve minor-key études fill 274 pages.
  • Robert Rimm hears hints of Hasidic dance music in the themes of the last études, though the set itself is secular.
  • Henle publishes the four-étude Symphony as a separate Urtext edition, HN 1657.

Why the first passage is level 9

That passage is level 9 rather than 8 because a hand covers more than one position, it leaps a octave plus an octave.

The passages come from the Presto finale of the Symphony, No. 7, where both hands play octaves in unison in 4/4 with four sharps. Read one line and copy it in both hands.

Questions about Étude Op. 39 No. 7 (Symphony: Finale)

How hard is Étude Op. 39 No. 7 (Symphony: Finale) to play?
Its passages grade from level 9 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 141–144 at level 9.
Is there an easy part of Étude Op. 39 No. 7 (Symphony: Finale) for beginners?
Its easiest passage is level 9, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 141–144 for both hands together, the level-9 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 9 because a hand covers more than one position and it leaps a octave plus an octave.
What key and time signature is Étude Op. 39 No. 7 (Symphony: Finale) in?
The engraving on this page is in 4/4 time.
Who composed Étude Op. 39 No. 7 (Symphony: Finale)?
Charles-Valentin Alkan, French romantic (1813–1888). Charles-Valentin Alkan published his Douze études dans tous les tons mineurs, Op.
Can I practice Étude Op. 39 No. 7 (Symphony: Finale) online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 2 graded passages from Étude Op. 39 No. 7 (Symphony: Finale) in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
Why is it called a symphony if it is for solo piano?
Alkan gave the name Symphonie to a group of four études in the set, laid out like the movements of an orchestral symphony. The title does not mean the music was written for an orchestra.
Is the whole Op. 39 usually performed?
Rarely, since the full set runs close to two hours. Pianists more often play single études or one of the groups, such as the four-movement Symphony.
Who was Alkan?
He was a French pianist and composer, 1813 to 1888, and a close friend of Chopin. After Chopin's death he withdrew from performing for years, and his music was largely forgotten until its later revival.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 2 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 9
bars 141–144 both hands · bars 145–148 both hands

More pieces to sight-read

Score: public-domain engraving from the corpus (pdmx), graded by the piano-reading-v2-20261023-identity-audit reading release.

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