Alkan, Étude No. 12 Op. 39 "Le Festin d'Esope"

For his final study [of Op. 39] Alkan chose the most succinct way of summarising his technical invention by displaying it in a classically strict set of twenty-five variations on an original theme. Traditionally, the work is thought to represent various animals from Aesop's fables. Raymond Lewenthal discerns 'all manner of creeping, crawling things' within its colourful pages.