Original sentence: 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.Alkan not only displays every conceivable manner of treating his theme, from the obvious to the transcendant, but he juxtaposes the complete spectrum of emotions from the naive to profound... What makes Le festin a work of outstanding genius is the tight discipline that rivets such seemingly disparate elements together... but the work is far more than the sum of its brilliant detail.As it progresses one becomes increasingly aware of darker tensions locked beneath its glittering surface.Granitic, it rises up to form a great wall of sound then quickly subsides allowing the piece to end darkly, enigmatically with laconic references to its opening bars (in the bass) and a mocking leap to the final inevitable slap.Quoted from Ronald Smith's 'Alkan, the Man, the Music': "For his final study [of Op.Raymond Lewenthal discerns 'all manner of creeping, crawling things' within its colourful pages....They finally break through as Alkan mounts his massive coda.Traditionally, the work is thought to represent various animals from Aesop's fables