Impressionism · Composers linked to impressionism
1865 – 1935
Paris → Paris
Life
Paul Dukas was born in Paris on October 1, 1865 and studied at the Conservatory, where he became friends with Debussy. He was also an acute musical critic and an extraordinarily demanding man with himself: he destroyed much of what he composed and only published a dozen works.
His world fame came with L'apprenti sorcier (1897), a symphonic scherzo on the Goethe ballad of dazzling orchestration. His opera Ariane et Barbe-bleueon Maeterlinck text, dialogue with the Pelléas Debussy, and the ballet La Peri is another summit of the French orchestral color. As a composition teacher at the Conservatory he formed Olivier Messiaen and Maurice Duruflé. He died in Paris on 17 May 1935.
Featured works
- Symphony in major (1896)
- L'apprenti sorcier (1897)
- Piano Sonata in my minor bemol (1901)
- Variations, interlude et finale sur un thème de Rameau (1902)
- Ariane et Barbe-bleue, opera (1907)
- La Peri, dancing poem (1912)
