{{Short description|Étude composed by Charles-Valentin Alkan}} thumb|upright=1.4|"Le Chemin de fer" is characterized by rapidly repeating bass notes, difficult to play and exacerbated by the extreme tempo. "'''Le Chemin de fer'''" (French for "the railway" or "the railroad"), Op. 27, is a programmatic étude for piano composed by Charles-Valentin Alkan in 1844,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pianopedia.com/w_4946_alkan.aspx |title=Alkan – Le chemin de fer, étude, op. 27 |access-date=2008-01-08 |author=Brisson, Eric |year=2008 |work=Pianopedia }}</ref> frequently cited as the first musical representation of a railway.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iag.uni-hannover.de/~hitching/Alkan.html |title=Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813–1888) |access-date=2008-01-08 |author=Hitching, George |date=2006-08-24 |work=George Hitching personal page |archive-date=2011-07-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719103425/http://www.iag.uni-hannover.de/~hitching/Alkan.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="e">{{cite book |last=Murray |first=Christopher J. |title=Encyclopedia of the Romantic Era, 1760–1850 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8wnCx9cZWw4C |year=2004 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |location=London |isbn=1-5795-8422-5 |page=12}}</ref> It is a ''perpetuum mobile'' composition at an extremely fast tempo, in D minor,<ref name="e" /> and performance at tempo lasts approximately five minutes.<ref name="score">{{cite book |last=Delaborde |first=Élie-Miriam |title=Le Chemin de Fer, Op. 27 (score) |year=2000 |publisher=Ludwig Masters Publications |location=London }}</ref>

== Composition == thumb|upright=1.4|The "happy passengers" melody is not as thick as the main "locomotion" gauntlet. The composition is marked ''vivacissimamente'' (extremely brisk, from ''vivace''),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/textv/Vivacissimamente.html |title=Vivacissimamente |access-date=2008-01-11 |author=Cole, Richard |year=2007|work=Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201222416/http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/textv/Vivacissimamente.html |archive-date=2008-12-01 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 112 half notes per minute. The first theme is sixteenth notes accompanied by a repetitive ostinato bass in eighth notes, illustrating the fleeting steam locomotive.<ref name="e" /> The second is a more lightweight melody that appears first in the submediant major, B-flat major, then in C major, still comprising just sixteenth notes, which depicts the happy journey of the passengers.<ref name="weller">{{cite web |url=http://www.wellermusik.de/Musikgeschichte/ALKAN/alkan.html |title=The Piano Music of Charles-Valentin Alkan |access-date=2008-01-11 |author=Weller, Wolfgang |year=1996 |work=Weller Music |language=de}}</ref> The only respite from the torrent comes at the coda, in which the note durations lengthen and the piece comes to a close, portraying the train pulling into a station.<ref name="score" /> The piece's length, in printing (506 measures), not performance (5 minutes), is humorously referred to as describing a very long trip.<ref name="fr">{{cite book |last=Beck |first=Charles |title=Œuvres choisies pour piano |year=1969 |publisher=Huegel et Cie |location=Paris|pages=iv, v |language=fr}}</ref>

== Reception == thumb|upright=1.4|The musical climax, extremely intense and involved, is still played at the same astronomical speed. The most recurrent criticism of the étude disparages its banal programmatic nature,<ref name="e" /> and it has been rated very poorly compared with Alkan's other compositions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.critique-musicale.com/musAAA.htm |title=Opinion of the Works |access-date=2008-01-11 |author=Fernandez, Claude |date=2006-01-01 |work=Critique musicale |language=fr |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213141319/http://www.critique-musicale.com/musAAA.htm |archive-date=2007-12-13 }}</ref> One writer dismisses it as "amusing", without technical innovations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mq.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/X/2/251.pdf |title=The Piano Works of C. V. Alkan |access-date=2008-01-09 |author=Bellamann, H.|work=The Musical Quarterly}}{{dead link|date=May 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Although Alkan demanded strict adherence to the metronome, one analysis of the extreme tempo showed that it is nearly impossible to play at the correct speed, and that at that speed the notes become impossible to distinguish.<ref name="weller" /> One published edition agrees with this statement, suggesting that Alkan's metronomic indications do not need to be taken too literally,<ref name="fr" /> and most analyses agree, one proposing that there is a printing error and it should be played half as fast (112 quarter notes per minute).<ref name="life">{{cite book |last=Eddie |first=William A. |title=Charles Valentin Alkan: His Life And His Music |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7o6ps01rGxYC |year=2007 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |location=France|isbn=978-1-8401-4260-0}}</ref> The piece's historical accuracy has also been questioned, given that it was composed in 1844, a period in railway history when trains seldom travelled faster than 19&nbsp;mph (30&nbsp;km/h).<ref name="weller" /> Despite these denigrations, its joyful melody has been celebrated as a forerunner to Arthur Honegger's famous orchestral work, ''Pacific 231'', which also represents a locomotive.<ref name="life" />

== Music == {{div col|colwidth=30em}} {{Listen|type=music|filename=Le chemin de fer - Alkan.ogg|title=Complete recording (at tempo)|description=Complete recording at the original tempo}} {{Listen|image=none|help=no|filename=Le chemin de fer, slow - Alkan.ogg|title=Beginning section (slow)|description=At half tempo}} {{div col end}}

== References == {{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

== External links == * {{IMSLP|work=Le chemin de fer, Op.27 (Alkan, Charles-Valentin)|cname=Le Chemin de fer (Alkan)}} * {{YouTube|YyECOZO2EE|Video}}, Etsuko Hirose

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chemin de fer}} Category:Études by Charles-Valentin Alkan Category:1844 compositions Category:Compositions in D minor Category:Music about trains