Dukas paul

40371 — Oblong octavo ca. 120 x 212 mm. 29 measures in F minor from the first theme for water notated in black ink in bass "dessus" clef. With autograph envelope postmarked "Paris 5 XII 1933" addressed to Elinor Ann Schloss on West 72nd Street in New York City. <br /> <br /> Inscribed and signed by the composer: "à Miss Elinor Ann Schloss" and "Xbr" October 1933 at head and "Avec les hommages de l'Apprenti Sorcier et de Paul Dukas" at lower outer margin.<br /> <br /> Slightly worn and browned; cut from a larger sheet with slightly irregular outer and lower margins; creased at central fold and very slightly overall; remnants of tape to verso; envelope worn and browned with upper margin ragged where opened and remnants of tape to both recto and verso. L'apprenti sorcier based on Goethe's 1797 poem Der Zauberlehring was first performed in Paris on 18 May 1897 by the Societe Nationale de Musique with the composer conducting. The work had four main themes: for water for the broom for the apprentice and for the sorcerer. It gained universal recognition with the incorporation of the music into the animated film "Fantasia" produced by the Disney Studios in 1940 featuring the cartoon character Mickey Mouse in the role of the apprentice. <br /> <br /> "The immediate success and world-wide renown of L'Aprenti sorcier which first brought the name of Dukas before the general public was well deserved; for this dazzling picture in sound of the tribulations that befell the disobedient sorcerer's apprentice in Goethe's ballad is a little masterpiece of 'representational' music most imaginatively conceived and brilliantly carried out. The composer's mastery of the orchestra and command of every refinement of instrumental colour is already apparent." Myers: Modern French Music from Fauré to Boulez p. 58.<br /> <br /> "Despite his slender output Dukas's place is at the heart of French musical life at the turn of the 20th century. Each of his compositions reveals a stylistic individuality and modern aesthetic tendencies combined with a deep respect for classical form. Dukas's unique position as a composer is evident in the character of his melodic material in its symphonic elaboration and in his consummate skill in orchestration. It is their subject matter that places his stage works among the most adventurous compositions of their time." Manuela Schwartz and G.W. Hopkins in Grove Music Online. unknown