Transparent Vapor: The Piano Music of Jehan Alain

Abstract

In his short compositional career, French composer Jehan Ariste Alain (1911 – 1940) established a strong reputation in Parisian music circles. He received numerous honors and prizes from the Paris Conservatoire, showing his promise as a composer. After he was killed during the Battle of France, his sister, the acclaimed organist and teacher Marie-Claire Alain (1926 – 2013), encouraged his legacy through the publication and performance of his organ works, which have since become part of the standard repertoire for the instrument. The efforts of his family have helped cement his status as one of the foremost twentieth-century composers for organ. Though known primarily for his organ works, he wrote a significant number of works for solo piano, few of which are known by pianists or music lovers in general. During his short compositional career, Alain developed a personal style that synthesized a variety of influences from his contemporaries in France, Gregorian chant, the philosophies of the Far East, and jazz. His solo piano works demonstrate an imaginative and original creativity, and display the scope of his compositional influences. This document will analyze the solo piano oeuvre of Alain through selected piano works, exploring the various influences and inspirations in his writings, and aims to introduce this largely unknown artist and his unique worldview to the piano repertory.