Dukas, Paul

Dukas, Paul

▪ French composer

born Oct. 1, 1865, Paris, Fr.
died May 17, 1935, Paris
 French composer whose fame rests on a single orchestral work, the dazzling, ingenious L'Apprenti sorcier (1897; The Sorcerer's Apprentice).

      Dukas studied at the Paris Conservatory and, after winning a second Grand Prix de Rome with his cantata Velléda (1888), established his position among the younger French composers with the overture, first performed in 1892, to Pierre Corneille's Polyeucte and with the Symphony in C Major (1896). The rest of his output (never large, owing to his own strict censorship of his works) was mainly dramatic and program music and compositions for piano. Dukas, a master of orchestration, was from 1910 to 1912 professor of the orchestral class at the Paris Conservatory, and from 1927 until his death he was professor of composition there. He also contributed musical criticism to several Paris papers, and his collected writings, Les Écrits de Paul Dukas sur la musique (1948), include some of the best essays ever published on Jean-Philippe Rameau, Christoph Gluck, and Hector Berlioz.

      Dukas's L'Apprenti sorcier (based on J.W. von Goethe's “Zauberlehrling”) was a piece of descriptive music written at the same time and in much the same style as Richard Strauss's Till Eulenspiegel. Yet Dukas's musicianship was of a considerably wider range than this brilliant period piece suggests. His Sonate (1901) is one of the last great works for piano that prolong the tradition of Ludwig van Beethoven, Robert Schumann, and Franz Liszt; his Variations, interlude et final pour piano sur un thème de Rameau (1903) represent an elegant translation into French musical idiom and style of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, Opus 120. The ballet La Péri (1912), on the other hand, displays mastery of Impressionist scoring; and, in his opera Ariane et Barbe-Bleue (1907), on the play of Maurice Maeterlinck, the atmosphere and musical texture make up for the lack of dramatic impact.

      After 1912 Dukas ceased publishing his compositions—except for a piano piece written in memory of his admirer Claude Debussy, the evocative La Plainte au loin du faune (1920), and a song setting, the charming “Sonnet de Ronsard” (1924). A few weeks before his death, he destroyed several of his musical manuscripts. Dukas collaborated with the Paris publishing firm of Durand in preparing modern editions of some of the works of Jean-Philippe Rameau, François Couperin, and Domenico Scarlatti and of the piano works of Beethoven.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • DUKAS, PAUL — (1865–1935), French composer. Born in Paris, Dukas studied at the Conservatory and taught there from 1909 until his death. In French music, his style formed a bridge between the school of César Franck and that of Debussy. He achieved fame in 1897 …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Dukas, Paul — (1865 1935)    French composer. Born in Paris, he studied at the Paris Conservatoire. After serving in the military, he returned to composing. His works include Polyeucte, Symphony in C Major, L Apprenti Sorcier. He taught orchestration at the… …   Dictionary of Jewish Biography

  • Dukas, Paul — ► (1865 1935) Compositor francés. Obras: El aprendiz de brujo, Ariadna y Barba Azul y La Peri , entre otras …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Dukas, Paul (-Abraham) — born Oct. 1, 1865, Paris, France died May 17, 1935, Paris French composer. Born into a musical family, he studied at the Paris Conservatoire. His first success was the overture Polyeucte (1892). Perfectionism led him to destroy much of his work.… …   Universalium

  • Dukas, Paul (-Abraham) — (1 oct. 1865, París, Francia–17 may. 1935, París). Compositor francés. Nacido en el seno de una familia de músicos, estudió en el conservatorio de París. Su primer éxito fue la obertura Polyeucte (1892). El perfeccionismo lo llevó a destruir… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Dukas — Dukas, Paul …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Paul Dukas — Paul Abraham Dukas (1 October 1865 – 17 May 1935) was a French composer, critic, scholar and teacher. A studious man, of retiring personality, he was intensely self critical, and he abandoned and destroyed many of his compositions. His best known …   Wikipedia

  • Dukas — Paul Dukas Paul Dukas Naissance 1er octobre 1865 Paris,  France …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Paul Dukas — Naissance 1er octobre 1865 Paris …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Paul Dukas — (* 1. Oktober 1865 in Paris; † 17. Mai 1935 ebenda) war ein französischer Komponist, der vor allem von Cesar Franck und Richard Wagner Anregung bezog. Seine Werke glänzen besonders in Rhythmik und Instrumentation. Dukas studierte am Pariser Ko …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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