Paul Dukas - Piano Sonata in E-flat minor

• Report rights infringement
• published: 20 May 2012
• views: 25170

Alexander Vaulin, piano. The Piano Sonata in E-flat minor is a musical work composed by Paul Dukas between 1899 and 1900, and published in 1901. The work has four movements: I Modérément vif (expressif et marqué) II Calme -- un peu lent -- très soutenu III Vivement -- avec légèreté IV Très lent The total playing time is about 45 minutes. In the first decade of the 20th century, following the immense success of his orchestral work The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Dukas completed two complex and technically demanding large-scale works for solo piano: the Piano Sonata, dedicated to Saint-Saëns, and Variations, Interlude and Finale on a Theme by Rameau (1902). In Dukas's piano works critics have discerned the influence of Beethoven, or, "Beethoven as he was interpreted to the French mind by César Franck". Both works were premiered by Édouard Risler, a celebrated pianist of the era. In an analysis of the work in The Musical Quarterly in 1928, the critic Irving Schwerké wrote: The Sonata is classical in structure and in four movements, connected more by mutual formal perfection and nobility of thought than by cyclic procedures. The first movement ... is built on two sharply contrasted themes, developed according to the sonata-form. The Andante is in the direct line of the great slow movements of Beethoven, and a supreme example of the grandeur attainable by modern technic [sic] working in this inspired form. The agitated Scherzo, with its unexpected fugal conclusion, is followed by the heroic Finale, comparable in breadth and majesty to the Stairway of Honour of the Palace of Versailles. By the vastness of its proportions, the quality of its writing, the power of its developments, and by its luminous lyricism, the Sonata in E flat minor is unrivalled by any other composition of this type. It transcends the piano, the factor that has retarded comprehension of it being its own magnitude. The Sonata, described by the critic Edward Lockspeiser as "huge and somewhat recondite", did not enter the mainstream repertoire, but it has more recently been championed by such pianists as Marc-André Hamelin and Margaret Fingerhut. Paul Abraham Dukas (October 1, 1865 in Paris - May 17, 1935 Idem) was a French composer and music critic. His production is small, and he is best known for symphonic poem L'apprenti sorcier (Sorcerer's Apprentice). He was an extremely self-critical composer who discarded all his compositions, except twelve. In 1897 he wrote his symphonic poem "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" is based on Goethe's ballad of the same name (Sorcerer's Apprentice) about the young wizard who tries his teacher's magic formulas and thereby get brooms to fill the buckets with water, with disastrous consequences, as he can not stop the forces he has set in motion. The work has been performed as a ballet with choreography by Harald Lander (The Royal. Theatre, 1940). Walt Disney has used it in "Fantasia" where Mickey Mouse is struggling with brooms. Among Dukas' other works include a little-known Symphony in C major (1896) and a large-scale Piano Sonata (1901), also the opera Ariane a Barbe-Bleue (1907), with libretto by Maurice Maeterlinck, and music for the ballet La peri (1912).

Paul Dukas - Piano Sonata in E-flat minor

• Report rights infringement
• published: 20 May 2012
• views: 25170

Alexander Vaulin, piano. The Piano Sonata in E-flat minor is a musical work composed by Paul Dukas between 1899 and 1900, and published in 1901. The work has four movements: I Modérément vif (expressif et marqué) II Calme -- un peu lent -- très soutenu III Vivement -- avec légèreté IV Très lent The total playing time is about 45 minutes. In the first decade of the 20th century, following the immense success of his orchestral work The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Dukas completed two complex and technically demanding large-scale works for solo piano: the Piano Sonata, dedicated to Saint-Saëns, and Variations, Interlude and Finale on a Theme by Rameau (1902). In Dukas's piano works critics have discerned the influence of Beethoven, or, "Beethoven as he was interpreted to the French mind by César Franck". Both works were premiered by Édouard Risler, a celebrated pianist of the era. In an analysis of the work in The Musical Quarterly in 1928, the critic Irving Schwerké wrote: The Sonata is classical in structure and in four movements, connected more by mutual formal perfection and nobility of thought than by cyclic procedures. The first movement ... is built on two sharply contrasted themes, developed according to the sonata-form. The Andante is in the direct line of the great slow movements of Beethoven, and a supreme example of the grandeur attainable by modern technic [sic] working in this inspired form. The agitated Scherzo, with its unexpected fugal conclusion, is followed by the heroic Finale, comparable in breadth and majesty to the Stairway of Honour of the Palace of Versailles. By the vastness of its proportions, the quality of its writing, the power of its developments, and by its luminous lyricism, the Sonata in E flat minor is unrivalled by any other composition of this type. It transcends the piano, the factor that has retarded comprehension of it being its own magnitude. The Sonata, described by the critic Edward Lockspeiser as "huge and somewhat recondite", did not enter the mainstream repertoire, but it has more recently been championed by such pianists as Marc-André Hamelin and Margaret Fingerhut. Paul Abraham Dukas (October 1, 1865 in Paris - May 17, 1935 Idem) was a French composer and music critic. His production is small, and he is best known for symphonic poem L'apprenti sorcier (Sorcerer's Apprentice). He was an extremely self-critical composer who discarded all his compositions, except twelve. In 1897 he wrote his symphonic poem "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" is based on Goethe's ballad of the same name (Sorcerer's Apprentice) about the young wizard who tries his teacher's magic formulas and thereby get brooms to fill the buckets with water, with disastrous consequences, as he can not stop the forces he has set in motion. The work has been performed as a ballet with choreography by Harald Lander (The Royal. Theatre, 1940). Walt Disney has used it in "Fantasia" where Mickey Mouse is struggling with brooms. Among Dukas' other works include a little-known Symphony in C major (1896) and a large-scale Piano Sonata (1901), also the opera Ariane a Barbe-Bleue (1907), with libretto by Maurice Maeterlinck, and music for the ballet La peri (1912).