Charles Valentin Alkan

I bet you haven't heard of this composer. Neither had I until this morning. But he is an eye-opener - or should I say ear-opener. He was a neighbour of Chopin and contemporary of Chopin and Liszt. Have a listen. His organ music should be interesting. He composed funeral music for a dead parrot 100 years before Monty Python! He sadly died pinned to the ground by a falling umbrella stand.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00k121z