Paul Dukas: A Brief Appreciation Author(s): Irving Schwerk Reviewed work(s): Source: The Musical Quarterly, Vol.

14, No. 3 (Jul., 1928), pp. 403-412 Published by: Oxford University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/738438 . Accessed: 29/12/2011 08:20
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PAUL DUKAS
A BRIEF APPRECIATION

won, is responsibleforthe generalignorancewhichobtains with reference to his other works,hence, also responsible for the lateness of the full recognition he deserves. One of the greatmusiciansofhis time,Paul Dukas is of thatlimitedcompany of artists whose intellectualpower and general culture give him absolute control,over both himselfand his works. His practise to presentto the public none but perfect works,gives studentsof his music the impression that he has always written well,that his technichas always been complete,and that he is, by birthright, a master of orchestration. It follows,therefore, that an appreciation of his art must of necessitybe eulogiousand animated by the admiration deserve,forwe knowonlyhis mastermasterpieces pieces. In the modernworldofmusic,Paul Dukas stands alone. The qualities of his compositionshave isolated him fromcomposers of his time. His greatnessdoes not consist in his creation of a new idiom with which he mighthave enricheduniversalmusical vocabulary, but in his ability to use all vocabularies with such absolute comprehension that he establishes of their significance, theirrelationship and theirsyntax. By his technicalprobityand in him. lyricism,French genius finds exemplarypersonification Each succeedingworkof his revealshis constantdesireforartistic renovation. His creative intelligenceis so puissant, it permits him to give play to his emotionallyricism and to create sonorous architecture of whichall the elementsare so perfectly assembled that he may be consideredthe assertionof a new classicism.
* *

By IRVING SCHWERKE

has HE universal favorone of Paul Dukas' compositions

Paul Dukas was bornat Paris, October1, 1865. He was fully fourteen he gave a hintofhis musicaltalent. Self-instructed before in sol-fa,he enteredthe Conservatory of Paris at the end of 1881, wherehe studiedpiano, harmony and composition underMathias, Theodore Dubois and Ernest Guiraud, respectively. In 1886 he
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won the first and fugue;in 1888, his cantata prize in counterpoint Velledabroughthim the first Second Grand Prize of Rome. Two Lear vonBerlichingen, overtures, unpublished King (1883), and Goetz were his (1884), composedduring conservatory days. His debutas of music took composer place January23, 1892, when Lamoureux the first of Polyeucte,an overture written the audition gave before. After this creation,Paul Dukas collaborated with year the an unfinished Saint-Saiensupon completion of Frde'dgonde, his Guiraud. teacher The of this work first three acts opera by wereentirely Paul orchestrated Dukas. by Parallel to his activitiesas composer,Paul Dukas for many of whichprofession withmusical criticism, years occupied himself his eruditionand acute discernment made him a distinguished for"Minerva," "La Chroniquedes practitioner:He wrotechiefly Revue "La Arts," Hebdomadaire," "La Gazette des Beaux-Arts" and "Le Courrier Musical." In 1893-94, collaboratingwith Charles Bordes and Gustave the programmeof the Harcourt Concerts, Doret, he formulated and later assisted M. Durand, the Parisian music publisher,in a complete revision and editing of the works of Rameau. On December first of Composition of 1927,he was appointedProfessor of Widor,who retired. at the Paris Conservatory, in replacement

The overture as heretofore stated,was Paul Dukas' Polyeucte, a debut as The public compositionis at one and the composer. same time a compact synthesis of Corneille's tragedy which inspired it, and a piece of music that holds togetheras such. The formis that of the classical overture. In spite of certain Wagnerismsin the orchestralfabric (natural for the epoch in which the overturewas written),the eloquence of the ensemble effect was amply sufficient to announcethe presenceof a composer of unusual personality. in C majorwas composedin 1895-96, in other The Symphony words,in Paul Dukas' thirty-first year. Dedicated to Paul Vidal, the symphony had its firstperformance, at the Opera Concerts, January3, 1896, under his direction. The work,in three parts, is an opulent expressionof modernismin classical form. Its ideational luxuriance, nobility of utterance and architectural soliditymark it as one of the most conspicuousachievementsof and magnificently refutethe generally contemporaneous writing,
prevalent notion that no French composer has ever produced a

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great symphony. Expressed in an individual and spontaneous in C gives freeplay to the author's creative idiom,the Symphony spiritand to his fundof exalted emotion. The high-spirited, impetuous first movement, Allegro non troppovivaceis intenselyrhythmic. Its logical structure, strong thematicmaterial,polyphonicrichnessand virileinstrumentation combineto create an exhilarating effect of life and pageant color. The second movement, Andante,in sharp contrast to the first, reveals the perfect finish of the composer'sstyle and the ineffable charmofhis melody. The robustlast movement, Allegro spiritoso, so verdantin instrumentation, to a vigorous bringsthe symphony close. The Sorcerer's was performed forthe firsttime in Apprentice May, 1897,beforethe SocieteNationale,Paris, under the direction of the composer. A success fromthe verybeginning of its career, this remarkablecompositionhas gone fromtriumphto triumph and broughtuniversalrenownto its author. Indeed, the worldfameof this masterpiece is so overwhelming, it must be accredited withhavingdeprivedof similareminence othermasterpieces by this composer,whose knownmusical productionsare all masterpieces. Paul Dukas' choice of Goethe's ballade for the settingof a forsubjects containing symphonicpoem revealed his predilection an elementof mystery and which demand in theirtreatmentthe resources of an astute imagination. Eclipsing the tale it illusis a surpassingcomtrates,the score of The Sorcerer's Apprentice to understandits musical position which needs no commentaries meaning, and which, by its logic, diabolic rhythmiccontour, and irony,sweeps all beforeit. dazzling orchestration In all French literaturefor pianoforte,there is no greater monumentthan Paul Dukas' Sonata in E flat minor, composed in and performed for the first 1899-1900, dedicated to Saint-Sae3ns, time by Edouard Risler, May 10, 1901, in the Salle Pleyel. The Sonata is classical in structure and in fourmovements, connected more by mutual formalperfection and nobilityof thoughtthan by cyclicprocedures. The first movement, vite,is built on two sharply Moddrdment contrastedthemes,developed accordingto the sonata-form. The Andanteis in the directline of the great slow movements of Beethoven, and a supreme example of the grandeur attainable by modern technic workingin this inspired form. The agitated Scherzo,with its unexpectedfugal conclusion,is followedby the
heroic Finale, comparable in breadth and majesty to the Stairway of Honour of the Palace of Versailles.

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the quality of its writing, By the vastness of its proportions, the power of its developments, and by its luminouslyricism, the Sonata in E flat minoris unrivalledby any othercompositionof this type. It transcendsthe piano, the factorthat has retarded of it being its own magnitude. comprehension Variationson a Themeby Rameau (19092), was performed for the first time,by Edouard Risler, at the SocibtiNationale,March 23, 1903. The variations,eleven in number,exhale a classical and yet intrepidly free spirit. Sometimesthe composer utilizes the merestportionof the theme,again he fitsentirely new material into the thematicpattern. Each variation reveals Paul Dukas' as a writer, and the masteryof traditionalforms,his virtuosity poetic quality of his sensibility. His published piano music is completed by the charming Prelude blegiaque(May, 1909), on the name of Haydn; and by La Plainte, au loin,du Faune, (1921), written forthe "Tombeau" of Debussy-an affectingevocation of a sublime friendship. Villanelle(1906), forbrass windinstruments, accomwithorchestra paniment,is one of many proofsof Paul Dukas' absolute mastery of these instruments and his genius to exploittheirresources. Before he turnedto Maurice Maeterlinck'sAriane et BarbeBleue, Paul Dukas had composed and abandoned music for two other dramas:-Horn et Rimenhild(18992), and L'Arbrede Science Ariane took place et Barbe-Bleue of (1899). The first performance at the Opera-Comique, Paris, on May 10, 1907. It has, since then,not only been given notable "revivals" in the same theatre, but has taken its place in the repertory of a numberof foreign La The Scala. general public has opera houses, among them of the music of to still awaken to the beauty and significance Ariane etBarbe-Bleue:the story, is however, widelyknown,thanks to the popularityof Maeterlinck'sbook. The Belgian author has form: given the old legend the following The first hall in Blue Beard's castle. act shows a magnificent are heard the Outside, populace cryingfor the tyrant'sdeath in retribution forthe lives of his fivewives, whom he is believed to have murdered. Ariane, his sixth wife,possesses seven keyssix silver,one gold. As she unlocks and opens the doors of the various chambersto which the silver keys give access, Ariane is showeredin turnby amethysts, pearls,emeralds,rubies sapphires, and diamonds. With the goldenkey she now unlocksthe seventh her come or forbiddendoor. From the darknessthat confronts the moaningsof the fivelost wives of Blue Beard, who entersand
lays violent hands upon Ariane. The populace rush into the hall,

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the impression of a "system," and ever seem to emanate from an inexhaustible wealth of emotion and poetry. Particularly to be

intentupon Blue Beard's death, but are withheldby Ariane who assures themno harmhas been done her. In the second act, a subterraneanhall, Ariane finds Blue Beard's imprisonedwives. She renews theircourage, tells them of the gloriousoutside, and promisesto liberate them. A wall is brokendown and theyleave the vault, singingsongs of joy. The thirdact shows the great hall again, whereBlue Beard's themselveswith his fabulous jewels. Upon wives are festooning the approach of Blue Beard, the people capture and bind him and to see that Ariane and bringhim in. Great is theirstupefaction the otherwives set him freeand dresshis wounds. Ariane leaves, but the five previous wives preferto remain with their despotic husband-the allegorical context of the drama being that "five out of six womenprefer captivity (with a man) to freedomwithout him!" Ariane etBarbe-Bleue by Paul Dukas, and Pelleas etMelisande the two columns that constitute by Debussy, are the masterpieces of the Twentieth Century's lyrical temple of music. Whatever considerationthese worksmay or may not have and in spite of fact other apparentlymore novel foreignworks,the irrefutable Barbe-Bleue and Ariane et are remains: Pelleas etMelisande totally affirmations. Debussy, in dissimcompletetechnicaland aesthetic in his sonorousarchitecture is Gothic, ulatingthe lines of strength Paul Dukas, in presenting massive and powerful, his strength-lines is Roman. Though the poem of Ariane et Barbe-Bleueis imbued with humanisticelementsand mystic almosphere,its preparationfor the lyrical theatre neverthelessdemanded of the composer the solutionof grave scenicand dramaticproblems. These difficulties he overcame by writing music which elaborates the poem's emotional content,and which poetizes even its most melodramatic situations. In other words,the drama received its life fromthe musical fountain-head. What a mistake to considerthe score of Ariane et Barbe-Bleuea purely symphoniccomposition,when it is also the psychicprincipleand interior action of the drama! The brief and stronglycharacterizedthematic material of Ariane et Barbe-Bleueis developed with unfailing logic and envelin instrumentation in rich detail. The flawless oped effulgent of the work of is the result the manner in whichthe unity simple musical ideas are woven together,a method so natural that the constantand subtle transformations theyundergoneveronce give

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noted is the "jewel" motive (firstact) and the six variations it undergoes as the doors are opened, and also the motive which Blue Beard. characterizes The music of Ariane et Barbe-Bleueis vast in variety,going frommonodiclines to orchestral of overwhelming tuttis powerand sumptuosity. The compactness, brilliancy and clarity of the sonoroustexture, the masterly of orchestral timbres, superposition the inspired writingfor the brass wind instruments, the equilibrium maintainedbetween the appeal to the senses, the emotions and the intellect, the nobilityof the conceptionand the boundless science and culture disclosed in its realization,make Ariane et Barbe-Bleueone of the greatestmasterpiecesyet composed for a theatricalsetting. La Peri, one-act poeme-danse (1910), was given for the first time by Mlle. Trouhanowa in April,1912, at the Dance Concerts, at the Chatelet Theatre. The limiteddimensionsof La Peri do not prevent it from being one of the finestscores in modern music. The workhas one scene and thereare but two personages, the Peri, a fairy,and Iskender,a hero. The latter, longing to ofimmortality. his departedyouth,is in searchof the flower refind He findsthe Peri asleep undera tree,a lotus blossomin herhands. The Peri awakens to discoverthat Iskenderhas taken the flower and the lotus flower becomes the fromher. The Peri is beautiful, of Iskender the of dances dance the desire. As she Peris, symbol returnsher flowerto her. She gradually fades out of sight and the hero knows that his end is near. On this purely Oriental subject of La Piri, Paul Dukas has deployed some of his most sensuousness art. The melodic,harmonicand rhythmic expressive whose charm of the workproduces an effect of the orchestration and magic it is impossibleto resist.

of compositionat When M. Widor resignedthe professorship whose functionit the Paris Conservatoryof Music, the officials was to findhis successor,were confronted by a knottyproblem. Apparentlywhat was needed was a man whose worksand whose a man whose characterwerecompatiblewiththe post to be filled, productionsand the example of whose life have the power to inspirethe admirationand respectof the studentswho mightbe chosen to come under his leadership. Naturally, the impending selectionoccasioned considerableagitation in the French musical
world, and it was not entirely without reason that many people

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fearedthe nominationwould be influenced not by considerations musical and artistic. these fears however, Fortunately, strictly were unfounded,for the one and only man in France absolutely qualifiedto sit in the importantchair, was chosen! This happy result was achieved principallyby a concerted,noble gestureon the part of all the musicianseligibleto the candidacy:-by common consent, they refusedto submit their names, thus leaving the way free and unembarrassedfor the Master, Paul Dukas. The action demonstratedconclusively the exalted esteem and in which the composerof Ariane et Barbe-Bleueis held affection illustrious. many of whomare themselves by his confreres, of composition Paul Dukas' appointment to the professorship at the Paris Conservatorybroughthim into a new prominence. His views and ideas on teaching suddenly became extremely that they are (the public of course naively overlooking significant not new to him!). Though he is not the "interview" type of musician,some of his ideas have foundtheirway into newspaper print;those recordedhere were given especiallyto THE MUSICAL so apparent in many artists. He has for publicityor notoriety, always been content to be known by his musical and literary and even thereis quite unconcerned withregardto compositions, extentand quantityof appreciation. The quiet and calm of his life,the all but monasticseclusionin whichhe lives in a citywhere the attainmentof privacy is a miracle,his consistent abstinence frompublic utterances,have surroundedhim in an atmosphere of mystery, whichbut fewhave been privilegedto penetrate. If he is knownat all-it is as a composerof masterpieces and an erudite,scholarlywriter. His is the exemplary modestyof the great savant, and behind his covertironyis a vast fundof charitable leniency. The idealest setting for his pronouncements is his own home. In that peaceful old house one feelsthe presence of a soul that has the courage to think and to reflectupon its thoughts,to hear him there is to feel the communicationthat emanates fromthe great artist who is equally as great a man. it Keenly alive to the time in whichhe lives, and comprehending deeply, Paul Dukas possesses the sentimentof freedomand of artist,and in addition thereto, disciplineessentialto the forming that whichis rareramong men than even learningand goodnessgreat charm. "Notions on teaching composition? It is good pupils that
make good teachers. Talented pupils are apt to find it difficult to listen to a teacher, but what they are told remains with them,
QUARTERLY.

Paul Dukas has never revealed the slightest desire

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and later turns up to do themgood. Youth never nevertheless, has and never will care intenselymuch about being told what is rightand good, or to believe it. Youth has to acquire experience itself." The composerof La Pcri admits one ambition,ratherthan a that is "to help young musi"method" of teachingcomposition, in accordance withtheirown natures. cians to expressthemselves Music necessarilyhas to express something;it is also obliged to to the expresssomebody,namely,its composer." Then referring a is "It modern of and momentum life, perhaps good "speed" thingforyoungmusiciansto be in a hurryand anxious to arrive, but they must be made to realize the importanceof knowing where theyare going. They go fast but have no goal. Withouta definitesense of destination,their hurrycan be productive of nothingbut-nothing. The firstlesson for the young musician to learn is the lesson of modesty. There are no methods; there are only pupils whose individualqualities and talentsit is well to develop and cultivate." and of the liberality Illustrativeof the composer'seclecticism of his "programme,"is his belief that music to-day is suffering fromtwo academical banalities:-conservatory or "school" academics,and "modern" or "avant-garde" academics,and his desire "to make my studentslove music, not a certain kind of music, and to preventthemfromwastingtheirtime in striving uselessly forvapid methodsof procedure,whichin a littlewhile are out of date and fashion. In modern music there are altogether too many optical illusions,and studentshave to be warned against them." "Compositioncannot be taught withoutgivingdue consideration to the various moderntendencies,but that is not enough; ofteaching it is also essentialto take intoaccountgeneralprinciples of its history. The and the evolutionof music fromthe beginning teaching of compositionshould be kept strictlywithinclassical bounds,that is, to music that lives. Certainresultsare to be had fromthe mere study of theory,but the best resultscome from worksmay appear the studyof works,forno matterhow different to be, they are all based on the same principles. There is the seem to in music as in painting;worksat first same phenomenon but in time it is seen they all followin the same line be different, of descendency. Students ought to understandthis, for if they ever accomplish anythinglastinglygood, they in turn will be forthis classical teaching. In other classics. Hence the necessity words,what the studentthinksis dead, must be renderedliving

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for him." Here teaching apparentlycomes to a halt, since "all that can be done is to induce young musiciansto go in the right direction;then, if they are really talented,they will take care of themselves. Once on the rightroad, theyshould endeavorto take can teach them to care of themselves, knowingthat no professor is limitedto givingtherules producea masterpiece. The professor of his art and to providinghis discipleswith essential equipment. It goes withoutsaying, that the best pupils will make the best use of this equipment,and will come out ahead-perhaps." unknown There is no detail or phase of the modernmovement to Paul Dukas. An outstandingaspect of present-dayartistry of the veryyoung,and the ease withwhich is the technicalfacility metieris acquired-a fact that has done much to establish the false notions the general public now entertain with regard to talent and genius. "The futureof music is endangeredby such a condition. Musicians need more than the ideas of theirmcitier. of their ideas, they cannot do Unless they also have the metier no more second-ratecomposers,everymuch. To-day there are body has genius, and what seems to be almost utterlylacking is talent." Creator of a new classicism that he is, Paul Dukas could hardly stand unmoved in presenceof the spectacle presentedby modern music and its makers. "What music needs is to rediscover the musical phrase and to renew melody. Nothing more revealsthe musicianthan the musicalphrasehe creates. completely in a moun"There is a cut in musical evolution,like a fissure tain. We stand on the brink of it, and the problem is how to cross over. This cut is not only visible in the musical means employed,but in its adaptation to the public. Musical language, and all at once. The instead of evolving,has metamorphosed, thread of continuityin harmonicdevelopmentwas cut too suddenly. It is no doubt one of the accidents that sometimestakes place in all progressivedevelopment,and a change is bound to come. Since musical language is no longercodified,it is as easy forpeople who are not musiciansto pass themselves off forsuchfor as as it is those who are To bridge musicians! really just easy a the cut referred new musical has to be to, created,and thought each wants to more than the to-day appear composer terrifying other! "To-day music is being made forpeople who are not musical and, in many cases, who have no liking for music. But musical music is not yet exhausted, and a returnto it will be effected. The task of teachingis to prepare the way of the returnin order

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to progress farther. That which has been acquired will rest, that is, a certain'liberty'will remain, as was the case with the movement. Voluntary eccentricity free-verse is worthlessand cannot be permanent. Young musiciansare so afraid that their teachers want to make Clementis of them. Nothing could be wider of the truth. The problem for them is to learn normal and to say something means of expression interesting. The young believe that to write in accordance with extremisttendencies and is to be in advance, but theyare not in advance. Originality when you personalityare thingsthat you cannot give to yourself have not got them." When asked with regard to the futureof music, the author in C looked quizzically at a portraitof Berlioz of The Symphony on the mantelpiece,and said, "Everythingis in the hands of the man of genius that comes along. In the studyof the history first than each epoch's belief that of music, nothingis more striking the end had been reached,and that no one could go any farther. that came beforeus was to preparethe place Whereas everything where we now are, and thus it must always be." "Teaching can advise and counsel but it cannot createvalues. It can only prepare them. Teaching should not exaggeratetradition,neithershould it lose sightof the fact that traditionexists. The prestige of the past is very potent and we are tryingto replace it by the prestigeof the present,a riskythingto do. A workmay last a year, two years,ten years,who knowshow long, and it is onlytimethatgivesworkstheirdue place. Time willclass everything. Somethingto noticeis that thereis always a musical of one kind or another in progress. Think of the resurrection hundredyears duringwhichShakespearewas unknown!" The innovationsof the ultra-modernists may astonish some, but can hardlybe expected to amaze the man who, years before their advent, produced the ever modern Sorcerer'sApprentice. "Composers used to have moregeneralideas than theynow have. Take, for example, the writingsof men like Berlioz, Wagner, Schumann, Debussy. They never theorized on their works or tried to systematizethem,as it is nowadays the fashionforcomposers to do. To-day everybodyspecializes, and there are too many artisans and not enough artists. Everybody has technic and thereis also abundance of ideas, and what is terribly lacking, but the motiveto compose." is not composing,