Over the past twenty years, piano works by French composer Paul Dukas (1865-1935) have finally gained recognition on stages worldwide. Previously, Dukas’s entire creative output had been largely eclipsed by The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Among his compositions for solo piano, one may find three one-movement pieces such as Prélude élégiaque sur le nom de Haydn (1909), Allegro (1925), Modéré (1933), as well as two larger-scale compositions, Interlude and Finale on a Theme by Rameau (1899-1902) and Piano Sonata in E-flat minor (1899-1900).

Interestingly, Dukas’s Piano Sonata was written immediately after the immense success of his orchestral work The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. The Sonata, dedicated to Dukas’s older contemporary Camille Saint-Saëns, was premiered in May 1901 by famous pianist Edouard Risler. Some critics found strong influence by Beethoven “as he was interpreted by Cesar Franck” in Dukas’s piano works. Given that Beethoven himself left one of the most significant bodies of work in the genre of sonata, it is unsurprising that Dukas chose to compose one. However, his decision to take on this challenge is particularly remarkable, as many French composers of the time consciously or subconsciously avoided writing sonatas to prevent direct comparison with Beethoven.

The Sonata in E-flat minor follows a four-movement structure typical of late Romantic works. Each movement develops its ideas at length and complexity. This is, probably, the main reason why live performances are still very rare. However, pianist Seulki Susie Yoo does not shy away from the challenge. The first movement, Modérément vif (expressif et marqué), is built on the juxtaposition of the two rather contrasting materials that are typical for the traditional formal structure of the opening movement of the sonata. The split figuration in octaves in the development section of the movement forecasts material in the third movement. Ms. Yoo approaches the dense texture of this movement with great awareness and mediates the complexity with masterful application of various dynamics, touches, and colors.

The slow movement, Calme – un peu lent – très soutenu, is also in sonata form. It continues the traditions of the slow noble movements introduced by Beethoven. The connection is greatly reinforced by the key of A-flat Major, the same as the slow movement of Beethoven’s Patetique Sonata, Op. 13. The slow movement is followed by the Scherzo in the rather unexpected distant key of b minor. The movement contains another surprising feature – the coda in heavily contrapuntal style. Yoo’s technical command in bringing all the voices together with great accuracy and precision is impeccable.

The Finale, Très lent, brings the sonata to a grand conclusion, transitioning from e-flat minor to the noble key of E-flat Major. In contrast to usually brisk and virtuosic last movements, Dukas focuses on bringing to life the heroic character and majestic proportion of the composition. Yoo, acting almost as a conductor, manages to keep the textural layers of the pieces transparent and clear so one can envision the various instruments interacting with each other to create a sonorous stream of sounds.

In his letter to the director of the Nancy Conservatoire dated by 1915, Dukas wrote that the main idea of the sonata is“ the analogy between victory over the beast within which I tried to put into music, and the other victory, the great one, the one that comes from every corner of the horizon, helping us trample underfoot the beast without, so real and almost as ugly (shall we say dirty), of which we had no inkling in those days. You may see it as no more than a symbolic correspondence, one for musicians that only they can understand, going back to a time when our distant ancestors gave a moral meaning to their symphonic poems (for solo cithara!), describing the triumph of Apollo over the Pythian serpent! There’s something of that here.”

The Sonata became one of the important parts of the late French romantic piano repertoire. Hopefully, future performances of the caliber and quality such as one presented by Seulki Susie Yoo shine additional light on the piano compositions of Paul Dukas.