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Paul Dukas

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Paul Dukas was born in 1865 in Paris and was a French composer, critic and teacher. He studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, where he came second in the Prix de Rome, but not first. Disappointed, he left the conservatoire in 1889. After that he combined composing with work as a music critic for French periodicals. Dukas was a perfectionist with a reserved character. Out of dissatisfaction he destroyed much of his own work, so that only a few pieces have survived.

Music and breakthrough

His best-known composition is L'apprenti sorcier from 1897, a scherzo for orchestra of ten to twelve minutes based on Goethe's poem Der Zauberlehrling. The piece became his best-known work and achieved worldwide fame, above all through Disney's 1940 film Fantasia. Dukas himself was irritated by its popularity. He also wrote the Symphony in C (1895 to 1896), the opera Ariane et Barbe-bleue, a piano sonata, the Variations, Interlude et Finale sur un thème de Rameau and the ballet La Péri.

Influence

At a time when French musicians were divided into conservatives and innovators, Dukas belonged to neither camp and kept the admiration of both. His music shows the influence of, among others, Beethoven, Berlioz, Franck, d'Indy and Debussy. Later he taught composition. His pupils included Olivier Messiaen, Maurice Duruflé, Joaquín Rodrigo and Walter Piston.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to L'apprenti sorcier. Notice how the orchestra tells a story without words and how the same melody keeps returning in a different tone colour.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

Categories: Artists