The Sorcerer's Apprentice

L’apprenti Sorcier, Paul Dukas

L’apprenti Sorcier is a French symphonic poem composed by Paul Dukas. Dukas was inspired by a classic German poem that tells the story of a naive apprentice. I first came across a simplified version of this piece many years ago while looking for easy-to-learn piano music. I am fascinated by all things mystic, so naturally I chose a song with “sorcerer” in the title. I never actually learned how to play it correctly, but its aura of mischief and waltz-like melody stuck with me. I had long forgotten about this song until this morning when I stumbled across the full orchestral arrangement. It did not take me long to recognize that buoyant melody. I enjoyed the whimsy of the simplified piano arrangement, but that was nothing compared to the eccentric chaos expressed through the full orchestra. I admire how the piece uses tempo and the density of instruments to tell a story. Starting thin and slow with only the sounds of a few woodwinds and quiet string drones. It is peaceful like sunlight resting on morning dew. Bursts of energy hint at the day to come, but it remains slow and tame… until it doesn’t. A bright trumpet cuts through and diminishes all lingering drowsiness. That's when the melody is introduced by a mellow bassoon sound, calm and controlled. The disarray is introduced as the melody is passed around and different instruments introduce new moving lines. At times the pace slows, eire like the eye of a storm. A repetitive staccato down beat drives the energy forward like a heavy march. Tension built by rapid ascending and descending lines cut the fabric of competing chords. It goes quiet. There is a moment of stillness before the melody is reintroduced with the same mellowness as the beginning. Coming full circle, the orchestra once again adds intensity layer by layer, instrument by instrument, line by line. Then another harsh stop. The woodwinds and strings from the beginning somberly play again, dragging on as if worn out by blunder. One final burst of energy wraps everything up like a Looney Tunes end screen.

Der Zauberlehrling, Johanne Wolfgang von Geothe 1797

Der Zauberlehrling starts with a very confident and excited apprentice whose master has finally left him unsupervised. He casts a spell on a broom stick, commanding it to bring in buckets of water. Following his command the broom goes back and forth to fill the basin, flooding the house one bucket at a time. The apprentice tries to stop the broom but he has forgotten the command to turn the broom back into a regular broom. Flooded and frantic, the apprentice decides to split the broom with an axe. Each severed piece of the broom gets back up and continues retrieving buckets of water, multiplying the severity of the apprentice’s predicament. Eventually the master sorcerer returns and commands the broom to stop. The poem heeds a warning against overconfidence and under-experience, but also opened me up to consider hidden potential within mistakes. The apprentice assumed he was ready to do it on his own, but he was humbled by a messy turn of events. The apprentice now has the opportunity to alchemize his day of turmoil into a lesson that would help him become a better sorcerer in the end. His mistake highlighted gaps in his knowledge and hopefully upped his respect for the master’s craft. Mistakes happen, but the value of the lesson just might outweigh the mess made.

Fantasia

If you have not already seen Disney’s Fantasia, I recommend listening to L’apprenti Sorcier before watching Disney’s Sorcerers Apprentice short in order to hear how the story unfolds through the music based on your own interpretation. The Sorcerers Apprentice animation did shift some of my initial interpretations of how the music tells the story. It opened my mind up to new aspects of the song I hadn’t heard on my own, such as the annoyance the master sorcerer possibly felt when coming home to a mess created by his apprentice. My favorite part is when apprentice Mickey falls asleep and goes to a dreamscape, conducting his magic from the cosmos. This scene adds another layer of enchantment into an already mystically potent piece of work. The childish charm that Disney is known for really adds to the naivety of the protagonist. Disney did a great job of portraying an ancient story through a modern medium, highlighting the timeless nature of the story and upholding its relevance to all people.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

First a folk tale, then a poem, a song, now a cultural staple. The tale of an unsupervised apprentice continues to inspire artists time and time again. It connects to the fool in all of us, excited to dive into the water without even considering the depths we may sink to. I was fascinated to see how the same story has been expressed differently through our ever evolving media, each adding more depth and nuance to a simple tale. The human experience is vastly diverse, but there are always some undeniable parallels between each unique person. Take some time to reflect on how you relate to the apprentice and what his story has to offer you.