Unknown Paul Dukas

Paul Dukas (1865-1935) learned to play the piano and first took an interest in composition in 1879. Two years later he attended the Paris Conservatoire as an auditeur libre in the classes of Théodore Dubois (harmony) and Georges Mathias (piano); he also studied counterpoint and fugue there with Ernest Guiraud. Shortly after hearing one of his symphonic works, an overture to Goethe’s drama Götz von Berlichingen, performed privately in Geneva in 1884, Dukas made the decision to earn his living as a freelance composer and music critic.

From the CD-Book Paul Dukas. Cantates, chœurs et musique symphonique (Palazzetto Bru Zane, collection Prix de Rome, 2015). Translation: Mary Pardoe.