Paul Dukas

Paul Abraham Dukas was born in Paris on 1 October 1865, a studious and self-critical man whose retiring personality masked an unforgiving standard: he abandoned and destroyed many of his own compositions. He belonged to neither the conservative nor progressive camps splitting French music at the turn of the century, yet commanded respect from both sides, drawing on influences from Beethoven to Debussy. His surviving catalog includes an opera, Ariane et Barbe-bleue, a Symphony in C, a Piano Sonata in E-flat minor, Variations on a theme by Rameau, and the ballet La Péri. Alongside composing, he…