As a performer with a 60-year career, the pianist Ronald Smith had no fear of the toughest technical challenges, and was always finding new nuances of musicality. As a researcher he was tireless in unearthing and championing the works of the enigmatic French composer Alkan. And as a teacher he knew how to instil the best in his pupils by example rather than diktat. He was a steadfast friend and mentor to generations of musicians, professional and amateur.

Smith’s early career pointed towards composition. He entered the Royal Academy of Music at the precocious age of 16 with the Sir Michael Costa Scholarship for composition, and his Symphonic Prelude was conducted there by Sir Henry Wood. A violin concerto was among other products of this period.

The piano, however, soon came to the fore, and after leaving the academy he studied privately in Paris with Marguerite Long, meanwhile tucking in an external BMus degree from the University of Durham. Having made his debut in the promenade concerts, his break came in 1950 through a recording of the Bach Triple Concerto with Edwin Fischer and Dennis Matthews. His recording career was to continue into the present century.

His continental debut was with Ansermet and the Swiss Romande Orchestra in Geneva in 1951. Subsequently he developed an international career which included many tours of America, Canada, Australia and the Far East, as well as prolific appearances within the United Kingdom and radio broadcasts. At his death he was preparing for a punishing schedule in Singapore.

Smith was appointed to the teaching staff of King’s School, Canterbury, in 1952. There for 40 years he nurtured many of the country’s finest musicians, providing them with musical insight as well as technical ability. His lessons often exceeded their allotted span, and he was selfless in giving extra time. Later in his career, private pupils would enjoy the residential hospitality of his home for protracted periods of coaching. He was a perceptive adjudicator in competitions, often preferring candidates who showed insight to arid technicians, sometimes to the surprise of onlookers.

During the 1960s Smith became intrigued by the neglected output of Charles-Valentin Alkan, and initiated a campaign to bring this composer to wider public attention. His recordings of many of these works remain in the catalogue, and his biography, which appeared as The Man in 1976 and The Music in 1987 was reissued as a single updated volume in 2000. He was president of the Alkan Society from its formation in 1977 until his death.

It is easy to categorise Smith as “the Alkan man”, but this and his modesty perhaps too readily concealed his musical insight in many other repertoires, particularly of the 19th century. It is a matter for lasting regret that no recordings were made of his impressive range of more than 40 different concertos.

Ronald Stevenson remarked that a pianist who is also a composer performs differently. Smith showed the truth of that, and lived by his own advice to his pupils never to play the same thing in the same way twice, but always finding a new aspect of pianistic orchestration.

His programming was dauntless. In his later years he was still compiling programmes which would have challenged a pianist of half his years. His 80th birthday concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall comprised Schubert’s “Wanderer” Fantasia, Chopin’s Op 25 Etudes, Beethoven’s last sonata and a group of Alkan pieces. The three encores concluded with Alkan’s fearsome E major 10/16 study. Few present at this concert knew that the prolonged interval masked illness which he defied to complete the event. His final concert in the Brighton Festival, four days before his death, was no less demanding, finishing with Chopin’s A minor Mazurka from Op.17 and a standing ovation.

Smith married the cellist Anna Norman in 1969. It was to be a happy union. Those who had previously judged him to be a lifelong bachelor were gratified to see how each supported the other, and were grateful for their generously open hospitality.

Smith’s relaxation was in the large garden of his home at Hythe, particularly among the vegetables and herbs, which he would always proudly display to visitors. He died suddenly but peacefully, having mown a good acre of lawn.

Ronald Smith, pianist, teacher and composer, was born on January 3, 1922. He died on May 27, 2004, aged 82.