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The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Dukas)
Encyclopedia
For the 2010 film produced by Jerry Bruckheimer
, see The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010 film)
.
The Sorcerer's Apprentice (L'apprenti sorcier) is a symphonic poem
by the French composer Paul Dukas
, written in 1896-97. Subtitled "Scherzo
after a ballad by Goethe," the piece was inspired by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
's 1797 poem of the same name
. By far the most performed and recorded of Dukas's works, its notable appearance in the Walt Disney
1940 animated film Fantasia
has led to the piece to becoming widely known to audiences outside the classical concert hall.
for the publisher Durand
, Dukas completed his Symphony in C
, but the work was not widely performed.
In 1897, Dukas composed, in a relatively short time, the symphonic poem The Sorcerer's Apprentice, based on the Goethe ballad, which he knew in the French translation by Henri Blaze. Dukas conducted the premiere at a concert of the Société Nationale on 18 May 1897, and within a short time the work had established itself within the concert repertory. Although the popularity of the work is widely connected to its appearance in the 1940 film Fantasia, it was in fact extremely popular with concert audiences from its debut. In an appreciation written in 1928 for the Musical Quarterly, the critic Irving Schwerke observed:
The work earned widespread critical approval, especially from contemporary French critics. Writing in Gil Blas
in 1903, Claude Debussy
noted of Dukas's style, "One may say that this emotional evocation is constructive, that it builds up a beauty like that of perfect architectural lines set in the colored spaces of the air and sky, mingling in a total, definite harmony."
genre of programmatic music
, which composers like Franz Liszt
, Claude Debussy
, Jean Sibelius
and Richard Strauss
increasingly explored as an alternative to earlier symphonic forms. Unlike other tone poems, such as La Mer
by Debussy or Finlandia
by Sibelius, Dukas's work is, like works such as Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks by Strauss, descriptively programmatic, closely following the events described in the Goethe poem. It was customary, in fact, to publish the poem as part of the orchestral score.
of the piece consists of two flute
s and piccolo
, two oboe
s, two clarinet
s and bass clarinet
, three bassoon
s and contrabassoon
(or contrabass sarrusophone
), four horns, two trumpet
s, two cornet
s, three trombone
s, timpani
, glockenspiel
, bass drum
, cymbal
s, triangle
, harp
and strings
. The formidable glockenspiel part is usually handled by a percussionist playing a special keyed glockenspiel.
animated concert film Fantasia
, in which Mickey Mouse
plays the role of the apprentice. Disney had acquired the music rights in 1937 when he planned to release a separate Mickey Mouse film, which, at the suggestion of Leopold Stokowski
, was eventually expanded into Fantasia.
Stokowski's version for the soundtrack of Fantasia remains one of the most famous. Although too early for high fidelity
, the performance was recorded using multi-tracks and was the first use of stereophonic sound
in a film. It is the only part of the film for which Stokowski conducted a studio orchestra, rather than the Philadelphia Orchestra
.
In terms of the storyline of the film, the sorcerer's final anger with his apprentice which appears in Fantasia does not appear in Goethe's source poem, Der Zauberlehrling. The popularity of the musical piece in Fantasia led to it being used again in Fantasia 2000
.
Jerry Bruckheimer
Jerome Leon "Jerry" Bruckheimer is an American film and television producer. He has achieved great success in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. His best known television series are CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Eleventh Hour, Without a Trace, Cold Case, The...
, see The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010 film)
The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010 film)
The Sorcerer's Apprentice is a 2010 fantasy adventure film produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, directed by Jon Turteltaub, and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, the team behind the National Treasure franchise...
.
The Sorcerer's Apprentice (L'apprenti sorcier) is a symphonic poem
Symphonic poem
A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music in a single continuous section in which the content of a poem, a story or novel, a painting, a landscape or another source is illustrated or evoked. The term was first applied by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt to his 13 works in this vein...
by the French composer Paul Dukas
Paul Dukas
Paul Abraham Dukas 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...
, written in 1896-97. Subtitled "Scherzo
Scherzo
A scherzo is a piece of music, often a movement from a larger piece such as a symphony or a sonata. The scherzo's precise definition has varied over the years, but it often refers to a movement which replaces the minuet as the third movement in a four-movement work, such as a symphony, sonata, or...
after a ballad by Goethe," the piece was inspired by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
's 1797 poem of the same name
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
The Sorcerer's Apprentice is the English name of a poem by Goethe, Der Zauberlehrling, written in 1797. The poem is a ballad in fourteen stanzas.-Story:...
. By far the most performed and recorded of Dukas's works, its notable appearance in the Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
1940 animated film Fantasia
Fantasia (film)
Fantasia is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by Walt Disney Productions. The third feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are...
has led to the piece to becoming widely known to audiences outside the classical concert hall.
History
Prior to The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Dukas had struggled to find his place as a composer in the world of French music and had embarked on a complementary career as a music critic and musicologist. An early symphonic overture Polyeucte (1892) was followed by an attempt to compose an opera, Horn et Riemenhild, but only the first act was ever completed. Between 1894 and 1896, while also busy preparing a newly revised edition of the works of Jean-Philippe RameauJean-Philippe Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau was one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the Baroque era. He replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and is also considered the leading French composer for the harpsichord of his time, alongside François...
for the publisher Durand
Durand
- Places :United States* Durand, Illinois* Durand, Michigan**Durand Union Station, the town's Amtrak station* Durand , Wisconsin** Durand, Wisconsin, small city within the town* Durand Township, Minnesota* Durand-Eastman Park, Rochester, New YorkOther...
, Dukas completed his Symphony in C
Symphony in C (Dukas)
The Symphony in C is a symphony by the French composer Paul Dukas, dedicated to Paul Vidal.The symphony was written in 1896, when Dukas was 30, and was premiered on January 3, 1897, with Paul Vidal conducting...
, but the work was not widely performed.
In 1897, Dukas composed, in a relatively short time, the symphonic poem The Sorcerer's Apprentice, based on the Goethe ballad, which he knew in the French translation by Henri Blaze. Dukas conducted the premiere at a concert of the Société Nationale on 18 May 1897, and within a short time the work had established itself within the concert repertory. Although the popularity of the work is widely connected to its appearance in the 1940 film Fantasia, it was in fact extremely popular with concert audiences from its debut. In an appreciation written in 1928 for the Musical Quarterly, the critic Irving Schwerke observed:
A success from the very beginning of its career, this remarkable composition has gone from triumph to triumph and brought universal renown to its author. Indeed, the world-fame of this masterpiece is so overwhelming, it must be accredited with having deprived of similar eminence other masterpieces by this composer.
The work earned widespread critical approval, especially from contemporary French critics. Writing in Gil Blas
Gil Blas (periodical)
Gil Blas was a Parisian literary periodical founded by Augustin-Alexandre Dumont in November 1879. It was in publication until 1914...
in 1903, Claude Debussy
Claude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
noted of Dukas's style, "One may say that this emotional evocation is constructive, that it builds up a beauty like that of perfect architectural lines set in the colored spaces of the air and sky, mingling in a total, definite harmony."
Description
Inspired by the Goethe poem, Dukas's work is part of the larger RomanticRomantic music
Romantic music or music in the Romantic Period is a musicological and artistic term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in Western music history, from 1810 to 1900....
genre of programmatic music
Program music
Program music or programme music is a type of art music that attempts to musically render an extra-musical narrative. The narrative itself might be offered to the audience in the form of program notes, inviting imaginative correlations with the music...
, which composers like Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
, Claude Debussy
Claude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
, Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity. His mastery of the orchestra has been described as "prodigious."...
and Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
increasingly explored as an alternative to earlier symphonic forms. Unlike other tone poems, such as La Mer
La mer
"La mer" is French for "the sea", and is the name of:*La mer , an orchestral composition by Claude Debussy*La Mer , Champion racehorse*"La Mer" , a song by Charles Trenet, published in 1939 and first recorded by him in 1946...
by Debussy or Finlandia
Finlandia
Finlandia is a symphonic poem by Jean Sibelius.Finlandia may also refer to:* Finlandia Hymn, a section of the Sibelius symphonic poem Finlandia* Finlandia University, a private university located in Hancock, Michigan, USA...
by Sibelius, Dukas's work is, like works such as Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks by Strauss, descriptively programmatic, closely following the events described in the Goethe poem. It was customary, in fact, to publish the poem as part of the orchestral score.
Instrumentation
The instrumentationInstrumentation (music)
In music, instrumentation refers to the particular combination of musical instruments employed in a composition, and to the properties of those instruments individually...
of the piece consists of two flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s and piccolo
Piccolo
The piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
, two oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s, two clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s and bass clarinet
Bass clarinet
The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
, three bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s and contrabassoon
Contrabassoon
The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon or double-bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower...
(or contrabass sarrusophone
Sarrusophone
The sarrusophone is a family of transposing musical instruments patented and placed into production by Pierre-Louis Gautrot in 1856. It was named after the French bandmaster Pierre-Auguste Sarrus who is credited with the concept of the instrument...
), four horns, two trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s, two cornet
Cornet
The cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. It is not related to the renaissance and early baroque cornett or cornetto.-History:The cornet was...
s, three trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s, timpani
Timpani
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
, glockenspiel
Glockenspiel
A glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
, bass drum
Bass drum
Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
, cymbal
Cymbal
Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
s, triangle
Triangle (instrument)
The triangle is an idiophone type of musical instrument in the percussion family. It is a bar of metal, usually steel but sometimes other metals like beryllium copper, bent into a triangle shape. The instrument is usually held by a loop of some form of thread or wire at the top curve...
, harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
and strings
String orchestra
A string orchestra is an orchestra composed solely or primarily of instruments from the string family. These instruments are the violin, the viola, the cello, the double bass , the piano, the harp, and sometimes percussion...
. The formidable glockenspiel part is usually handled by a percussionist playing a special keyed glockenspiel.
Fantasia
Although The Sorcerer's Apprentice was already a popular concert piece, it was brought to a much larger audience through its inclusion in the 1940 Walt DisneyWalt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
animated concert film Fantasia
Fantasia (film)
Fantasia is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by Walt Disney Productions. The third feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are...
, in which Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
plays the role of the apprentice. Disney had acquired the music rights in 1937 when he planned to release a separate Mickey Mouse film, which, at the suggestion of Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born, naturalised American orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski...
, was eventually expanded into Fantasia.
Stokowski's version for the soundtrack of Fantasia remains one of the most famous. Although too early for high fidelity
High fidelity
High fidelity—or hi-fi—reproduction is a term used by home stereo listeners and home audio enthusiasts to refer to high-quality reproduction of sound or images, to distinguish it from the poorer quality sound produced by inexpensive audio equipment...
, the performance was recorded using multi-tracks and was the first use of stereophonic sound
Stereophonic sound
The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective...
in a film. It is the only part of the film for which Stokowski conducted a studio orchestra, rather than the Philadelphia Orchestra
Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...
.
In terms of the storyline of the film, the sorcerer's final anger with his apprentice which appears in Fantasia does not appear in Goethe's source poem, Der Zauberlehrling. The popularity of the musical piece in Fantasia led to it being used again in Fantasia 2000
Fantasia 2000
Fantasia 2000 is a 1999 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was the 38th feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and a sequel to 1940's Fantasia...
.
External links
- Recording of The Sorcerer's Apprentice in MP3MP3MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
format from the Peabody InstitutePeabody InstituteThe Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University is a renowned conservatory and preparatory school located in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland at the corner of Charles and Monument Streets at Mount Vernon Place.-History:...