Dukas, Paul

Paul Dukas – Fanfare pour précéder La Péri

(b. Paris, 1 October 1865 – d. Paris, 17 May 1935)

Dukas wrote the short ballet La Péri in 1911 for the dancer Natalia Truhanova. It was first performed on 12 April 1912 as part of a quartet, with Florent Schmitt’s La tragédie de Salomé, d’Indy’s Istar, and Ravel’s Valses Nobles et Sentimentales. Dukas’ 20-minutes work complemented the other scores well, with its dreamy exoticism and orchestration that Dukas likened to “a kind of translucent, enamel”. The ballet score is published by MPH in volume 375.

At the very last minute before the first performance, Dukas wrote this fanfare for eleven brass instuments, to serve as an introduction to the ballet. Its stately progress introduces typically impressionist harmonies, and a quieter section (figure 4) anticipates the mood of much of the ballet. The fanfare is often performed independently of the ballet, making a brilliant opening to a concert.

Sadly, this fanfare was the last piece of his music that Dukas allowed to be published, and he spent the remainder of his life teaching at the Paris Conservertoire, where his pupils included Manuel de Falla, Joaquín Rodrigo and Olivier Messien.

Phillip Brookes, 2013

The comlete performance set you find HERE

Read preface / Vorwort > HERE