The French composer who wrote “L’Apprenti sorcier” (“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”) was Paul Dukas. Dukas completed the orchestral work in 1897 and subtitled it “Scherzo after a ballad by Goethe,” linking the music directly to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s 1797 poem “Der Zauberlehrling.”
The piece is a symphonic poem, a form of program music designed to suggest a story or images through orchestral sound. Dukas follows Goethe’s mischievous tale: an apprentice uses magic to make a broom carry water, then loses control when he cannot stop it. Repeated musical ideas help evoke the broom’s relentless activity and the escalating chaos.
The work premiered in Paris on May 18, 1897, with Dukas conducting. It became Dukas’s most famous composition, overshadowing much of his other output, including his Symphony in C, piano sonata, opera Ariane et Barbe-bleue, and ballet La Péri. Its international fame expanded dramatically after Walt Disney included it in the 1940 animated film Fantasia, where Mickey Mouse plays the apprentice. Disney’s version made the music familiar far beyond the concert hall.