Paul Dukas

Paul Abraham Dukas was a French composer, critic, scholar and teacher. Known for his perfectionist nature, he often destroyed works he was dissatisfied with. His most famous piece is 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice', which has overshadowed his other works like the opera 'Ariane et Barbe-bleue'. Dukas' compositions bear influences from Beethoven, Berlioz, Franck, d'Indy, and Debussy. With a parallel career as a music critic, he contributed to French journals and later taught at the Conservatoire de Paris, educating students like Maurice Duruflé and Olivier Messiaen. Born in a Jewish family in Paris, he showed musical talent from a young age, leading to a successful, if self-critical, career in music.