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Paul Dukas, Yan Pascal Tortelier & BBC Philharmonic Orchestra

Dukas: Symphony in C Major & Polyeucte

Paul Dukas, Yan Pascal Tortelier & BBC Philharmonic Orchestra

4 SONGS • 56 MINUTES • FEB 01 1994

  • TRACKS
    TRACKS
  • DETAILS
    DETAILS
TRACKS
DETAILS
1
Symphony in C Major: I. Allegro non troppo vivace, ma non fuoco
14:46
2
Symphony in C Major: II. Andante espressivo e sostenuto
14:56
3
Symphony in C Major: III. Allegro spiritoso
11:24
4
℗© 1994: Chandos Records

Artist bios

Paul Dukas is best remembered for his tone poem The Sorcerer's Apprentice, indelibly etched in popular visual memory as Mickey Mouse in a star-spangled robe and wizard's hat, waving a wand at an army of brooms. Dukas worked hard at being a composer, critic, and teacher because music did not come to him as naturally as to others. His self-doubt led him to destroy many of his works, but the radiant sound and strength of technique mark what remains. Among those are his opera Ariane et Barbe-bleue, the ballet La Péri, and his Symphony in C.

Born in Paris on October 1, 1865, into a prosperous banking family of Jewish ancestry, Dukas revealed average musical gifts as a child. He received his earliest training from his mother, a fine pianist, who died during his fifth year. At 16, having made music his chosen vocation, Dukas entered the Paris Conservatoire, studying harmony, piano, conducting, and orchestration. At 17, he wrote his first two adult compositions, overtures to Goethe's Götz von Berlichingen and Shakespeare's King Lear. He formally studied composition with Ernest Guiraud, but his submissions for the Prix de Rome competition in the years 1886 to 1889 were unsuccessful. This was the beginning of his pathological self-doubt that led to the destruction of almost half the total output of his creative maturity. Partly due to these disappointments, he left the school to fulfill his military service, which he completed in 1891.

Dukas then began writing music criticism and resumed composition, entering his most productive compositional phase with the overture Polyeucte, introduced to widespread acclaim on January 23, 1892. During the following year, he abandoned his first projected opera, Horn et Rimenhild, and collaborated with Saint-Saëns in completing and orchestrating the opera Frédégonde by Guiraud. Dukas' Symphony in C, commenced in 1895, recalls the symphonies of Franck, d'Indy, and Chausson, the leading lights in the Societé Nationale de Musique formed to promote French composers, and also emulates those more extroverted French symphonists: Lalo, Bizet, and Saint-Saëns. The most famous work by Dukas, the "symphonic scherzo after Goethe," The Sorcerer's Apprentice, was written in the immediate aftermath of the Symphony, between January and May of 1897. For the next decade, he devoted himself to an opera, Ariane et Barbe-bleue, based on the work of Maurice Maeterlinck, while completing his Sonata for piano in E flat minor (1900). The ballet score La Péri (1911-1912), was originally intended as a one-act tableau for Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. It was the last work Dukas allowed to be submitted for publication and was saved from the ashes only after vigorous protests from the composer's closest associates.

Even as he gained recognition as composer, Dukas became one of the foremost Parisian music critics of his generation, contributing articles and reviews to many of France's leading newspapers and journals. He was also a dedicated musicological researcher, editing authoritative critical editions of keyboard music by Rameau, Couperin, Scarlatti, and Beethoven, and served as a member of the composition faculty at the Paris Conservatoire from 1910 to 1913. Dukas died in Paris on May 17, 1935, without living to see his universal fame established as The Sorcerer's Apprentice became enshrined in American popular culture a mere five years later through the use of the work in the Walt Disney movie Fantasia. ~ TiVo Staff

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Yan-Pascal Tortelier is among the finest conductors emerging in the last quarter of the twentieth century.

He comes from an eminent musical family: His father was cellist Paul Tortelier (1914-1990). Yan-Pascal studied violin and piano and began studying harmony and counterpoint with Nadia Boulanger. Of his violin studies at the Paris Conservatoire he says he "thinks he reached a high standard" but "couldn't quite make it." In fact, he won First Prize in violin at the Conservatory at age 14 and at the same age made his debut as a soloist with the London Philharmonic in Brahms' Double Concerto (1962).

He took conducting studies with Franco Ferrara in the Accademia Chigiana in Siena in 1973. He began guest conducting and in 1974 was appointed associate conductor of the Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, remaining in that position through the season ending in 1983. He also conducted opera performances in Toulouse. He was principal conductor and artistic director of the Ulster Orchestra (Belfast, Northern Ireland, 1989-1992). In 1990 he was named principal conductor of the BBC Philharmonic, effective at the start of the 1992 season, remaining in that position until 2002. As such, he frequently appeared leading live concerts on the BBC from that orchestra's home at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, as well as at annual performances at the Henry Woods "Proms" Concerts. In 1995, he took it on a very successful tour of the U.S. to celebrate the orchestra's 60th anniversary season.

Tortelier also guest conducts widely, appearing at some of the world's leading orchestras. His first appearance in the U.S. was in 1985, with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. In the early part of 2000 his scheduled guest appearances included concerts with Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic, and the San Francisco Symphony. From 2005 to 2008, Tortelier was the principal guest conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and served as principal conductor of the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra in Brazil.

He records exclusively for Chandos Records, which has released performances with the BBC Philharmonic and the Ulster Orchestra, included complete orchestral works of Debussy and Ravel. The later series included Tortelier's own orchestration of Ravel's Trio. With the BBC Philharmonic Tortelier has worked on complete cycles of music by Roussel and Dutilleux, and has also recorded works by Lutoslawski, Fauré, and Dukas, including two discs that won the prestigious Diapason d'Or award.

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The BBC Philharmonic, based in the city of Salford in northern England's Greater Manchester county, is one of the most important orchestras in the United Kingdom, distinguishing itself by its sheer visibility and solid commitment to contemporary British music that has included the establishment of a composer/conductor position. Its home concert venue is Manchester's Bridgewater Hall. The people of the Manchester area and the north of England are rightly proud of their radio orchestra. With so much British culture and finance administered in London, there is an independent spirit driving the culture of the north. The BBC Philharmonic has not only survived, but it has thrived. It has developed a character distinct from that of the larger BBC Symphony Orchestra, based in London: more populist, perhaps, but also more adventurous and -- with the orchestra's large recording catalog, generous outreach programs, and international tours -- more entrepreneurial.

The BBC Philharmonic's history is rather checkered, for it has had to endure numerous crises. In 1922, prior to the official establishment of the British Broadcasting Corporation, Manchester had a radio station known as 2YZ, housed on the premises of the Metropolitan Vickers Electrical Company. Early on, a small orchestra was established for broadcasts; it concentrated mainly on light music but expanded on occasion for performances of symphonic repertoire and opera. The station gained a reputation for broadcasting British music, including the first radio performances of music by Edward Elgar, Gustav Holst, and William Walton. When the BBC was established in 1927, the 2YZ orchestra was renamed the Northern Wireless Orchestra; later, it became the BBC Northern Orchestra. Its existence was always precarious, but the group's size and repertoire increased. During World War II, the orchestra gave concerts in various communities around the region, bringing it to a wider public. The BBC Northern Orchestra continued to gain a strong reputation for performing and broadcasting British music, particularly works by living composers who were often invited to conduct the orchestra.

In 1961, the BBC Northern Orchestra made its first appearance at the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts under the direction of George Hurst. The regional identity of the ensemble began from that point to evolve into a national and international one. After a difficult strike in 1980, the BBC committed to supporting a full orchestra in Manchester, and in 1982, the ensemble was given its current name. Its principal conductor at that time was Edward Downes, who was succeeded in 1991 by Yan Pascal Tortelier. The ensemble's reputation for adventurous programming has expanded to an international scope as well, as composers from various countries have come to conduct the orchestra.

In 1991, the post of composer/conductor was created, with Peter Maxwell Davies being the first appointment. Davies composed several works for the orchestra, including several symphonies culminating with Symphony No. 7, which premiered in 2000. Along the way, he has also recorded a number of his orchestral works for release. Composer James MacMillan was named his successor in 2001. The following year, Gianandrea Noseda was named principal conductor (the title changed to chief conductor in 2006). HK Gruber followed MacMillan as composer/conductor in 2009. In 2011, Noseda was named conductor laureate, and Juanjo Mena became the chief conductor. In 2015, the BBC Philharmonic changed the title of the composer/conductor role to composer in association and appointed Mark Simpson to the position. Mena served as chief conductor until 2018, and Omer Meir Wellber, following a successful guest conductor performance, assumed the chief conductor position in 2019. John Storgårds was named the orchestra's new chief conductor in 2023 after serving as chief guest conductor since 2017.

The BBC Philharmonic has a vast recording catalog comprising hundreds of albums, with the majority of them being on the Chandos label. It has also recorded for Naxos and Albany, among many other labels. In 2023, under conductor Rumon Gamba, it was heard on a recording of orchestral music by Malcolm Arnold, which also featured clarinetist Michael Collins, on the Chandos label. ~ James Harley & Keith Finke

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