Dukas, Paul

Dukas, Paul, famous French composer and teacher;b. Paris, Oct. 1,1865; d. there, May 17, 1935. From 1882 to 1888 he was a student at the Paris Cons., studying under Mathias (piano), Dubois (harmony), and Guiraud (composition). He won 1st prize for counterpoint and fugue in 1886, and the 2nd Prix de Rome with a cantata, Velleda (1888). He began writing music reviews in 1892, and was music critic of the Revue Hebdomadaire and Gazette des Beaux-Arts. In 1906 he was made a Chevalier of the Legion cThonneur. From 1910 to 1913, and again from 1928 to 1935, he was prof. of the orch. class at the Cons. In 1918 he was elected Debussy’s successor as a member of the Conseil de I’enseignement superieur there; also taught at the Ecole Normale de Musique. Although he was not a prolific composer, Dukas wrote a master-piece in his orch. scherzo L’Apprenti Sorcier; his opera Ariane et Barbe-Bleue is one of the finest French operas in the impressionist style. Among his other notable works are the Sym. in C major and the ballet La Peri. Shortly before his death, he destroyed several MSS of his unfinished compositions.

Works

DRAMATIC Opera : Ariane et Barbe- Bleue (1899–1906; Paris, May 10, 1907). B a 1 1 e t : La Peri (1911–12; Paris, April 22, 1912). ORCH.: 3 overtures: King Lear (1883), Gb’tz von Berlichingen (1884), and Polyeucte (1891); Sym. in C major (1896; Paris, Jan. 3, 1897); L’Apprenti Sorcier, scherzo (Paris, May 18, 1897). OTHER: Villanelle for Horn and Piano (1906); piano music, including a Sonata (1899–1901), Variations, Interlude et Finale (sur un theme de Rameau) (1903), Prelude elegiaque (1908), and La Plainte au loin du faune (1920); Sonnet de Ronsard for Voice (1924). With Saint-Saens, he completed Guiraud’s opera Fredegonde.

Bibliography

G. Samazeuilh, P. D. (Paris, 1913; 2nd ed., 1936); V. d’Indy, Emmanuel Chabrier et P. D. (Paris, 1920); G. Samazeuilh, P. D., musicien franqais (Paris, 1936); G. Favre, P. D.: Sa vie, son oeuvre (Paris, 1948); N. Demuth, P. D. (London, 1949); G. Favre, L’Oeuvre de P. D. (Paris, 1969); idem, ed., Correspondance de P. D. (Paris, 1971); W. Moore, The Significance of Late Nineteenth-Century French Wagnerisme in the Relationship of P. D. and Edouard Dujardin: A Study of Their Correspondence, Essays on Wagner, andD.’s Opera Ariane et Barbe-Bleue (diss., Univ. of Tex., 1986).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire