Paul Dukas (1865-1935), 'L'apprenti Sorcier' ('The Sorcerer's Apprentice'), 1897.

An old favourite I’ve heard on the radio twice in recent weeks. ‘A little knowledge is a dangerous thing!’ just might be the theme of Goethe's 1797 poem Der Zauberlehrling (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice). In it, the Master Wizard absents himself, leaving his apprentice alone to do chores.To ease the task of fetching water, the youngster casts a spell on a broom. It works. So far so good, the broom fetches water. But when the time comes to stop it, the Apprentice has forgotten the word. So the broom fetches more and more water. In despair the Apprentice splits the broom in two with an axe, only to find that both halves now fetch water! The flood only stops when the Master Wizard returns...

Exactly a century went by before French composer Paul Dukas took Goethe’s idea and came up with the orchestral work ‘L’Apprenti Sorcier’. It captures every phase of the exploit with (sometimes amusing) precision. It went on to become Dukas’ best known work, a fact aided by its inclusion in Walt Disney’s 1940 animation, ‘Fantasia’...

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There is a little artistic licence here, as in the original story there is no dream sequence and the broom is split into two, not into dozens of pieces. But such things are minor quibbles. It's a great animation which complements the music to very good effect.

However I knew the piece not because of 'Fantasia', but because we had it on an 45rpm vinyl EP when I was a child. I can still recall the sleeve with an illustration and the title of the piece in French.


I had a look on the internet, and it didn't take me long to find that sleeve. Someone in the family is bound to still have it...