5-2 Final Project Milestone Three: Academic Analysis
Julie Beck
Southern New Hampshire University
Dr. Foust
4/03/2022
2
Academic Analysis
The Sorcerer 's Apprentice by Paul Dukas is a programmatic symphonic composition
based on the poem by Goethe. After listening to this piece, the elements that stood out to me
were the mysterious melodies, different tempos, different pitches and the freedom of form and
design. This symphonic poem tells an enchanting story that induces the feelings of excitement.
panic, and fear. The Sorcerer 's Apprentice is an excellent example of "program music" as it tells
a magical tale musically to the audience. One-way Dukas accomplishes this is by taking several
details from the original poem by Goethe and he uses them to guide many musical attributes.
such as the orchestration, the thematic music, and the overall form of the piece. There are
semblances of sonata form and themes that parallel the story structure of the original poem
Dukas creates four main themes in the introduction to represent the characters in the story, one
for the water, one for the broom, one for the Apprentice and one for the Sorcerer.
The Apprentice Theme
The Water Theme
The Broom Theme
The Sorcerer Theme
W
The piece begins with a peaceful State as the sorcerer leaves his workshop. Airy,
mysterious chords of the muted strings and flutes start of f the symphonic scene. When we meet
our protagonists with a single melody created by a clarinet, oboe, and a flute and glassy
harmonics from a harp. We hear this melody throughout this monothematic work. The magic
itself, is represented by a single crack from timpani, crashing cymbals represent the axe chopping
the broom in half. Dukas uses large scale tonal movement to create tension through harmonic
dissonances, dualities, and abrupt tonal and thematic shifts. The final movement feels like the
calm after the storm, when all that was wrong has become right again. Paul Dukas's ability to use
literature to structure and form this musical composition is amazing, you can hear and feel the
tension rising as the broom begins to do the chores, you can hear the panic as the Apprentice
loses control of the broom and the shop is flooding. You can hear the ongoing battle between the
broom and the Apprentice throughout the piece. And when the broom gets split into two pieces
and begin to work diligently the broom theme is also split into two voices." Dukas develops and
creates themes for the crucial characters and important things in the narrative. He creates
symbolism by using musical devices such as the counterpointing of said themes, reflective of the
action in Goethe's original poem. Alone, the devices produce potent music, but with the text, the
represent something much more meaningful (Griglio, 2020).
This music was composed mostly for theater as it has a story to it and a theme behind it.
This piece was created during the Romantic period of music. This period represented the creation
of the form structures within