Le Tombeau De Paul Dukas- Neuf pièces inédites composées pour piano, à la mémoire de Paul Dukas
After Paul Dukas died in 1935, Henry Prunières asked a group of Dukas’s pupils and colleagues for short memorial works to publish in La Revue musicale. Le Tombeau de Paul Dukas was published in 1936 including nine miniature pieces.
Schmitt uses the consistent ostinato bell motif ‘A (la)’ to remember Dukas the same way Dukas commemorates Debussy in his La Plainte, au loin, du Faune…
Falla’s French Impressionism language in Pour le Tombeau is expressed by the consecutive octaves in a large range, borrowing the similar technique in La Cathedrale Engloutie.
Pierne and Ropartz both use Dukas theme “B (P)- A (A)- G (U)- E (L) -D (D)-G (U)-D (K)-A (A) -E (S) to unfold the music. While Pierne explicitly develops the Dukas subject in rigorous contrapuntal texture in Prélude, Ropartz’s A la Mémoire has a more introspective quality. After the chordal Grave, the nostalgistic melody begins, then the abrupt E minor chord implies Dukas’s death.
Rodrigo’s Hommage à Paul Dukas is the most sorrowful and melancholic piece among this set. The semitone ostinato provides a contemplative atmosphere, and the following lamenting, cantabile theme delivers Rodrigo’s deep sadness for Dukas’s absence.
Kreins’ expressivity in Pièce á la Mémoire de Paul Dukas is represented in fin-de-siècle style; the juxtaposition of accumulated chords, and mixture of major and minor deliver his heavy emotions. The restless eighth notes throughout the piece almost sound like soft prayer.
Messiaen commemorates Dukas as a majestic and dignified colleague using his hallmark of the permutation technique with the style of symphonic in Pièce pour le Tombeau de Paul Dukas.
Aubin’s Le Sommeil d’Iskender has subtitle ‘...Il sentit l’ombre l’entourer Paul Dukas, “La Péri.” The descending chromatic Chanté from La Peri is juxtaposed with the slow promenading quarter notes. The music reaches the grandiose climax then recalls the La Peri motif at the ending.
Barraine’s Hommage à Paul Dukas is rather light-toned. The vanishing ending is as if she envisions Dukas’s ascent to heaven.
