“Tone color is described by words such as bright, dark, brilliant, mellow and rich” (Kaimen, pg. 7). Composers in the Romanic period used tone color (or timbre), to obtain a variety of moods and were constantly blending tone colors to come up with new unique sounds. No two of the same instruments truly sound the same. Also important was the tempo or basic pace of the music. The tempo in the Romantic period changed to depict certain moods. This was achieved by having more fluctuations in the tempo than Classical music (Kaimen, pg. 259). The dynamics of a piece are the contrasts between the softer notes and the very powerful sounds. Range of pitch was also being explored by using the piccolo to reach the highest notes and the bassoon to reach the lowest ones. Using many different temps, dynamics and pitches, composers were able to create music to the extremes: from soft and slow lullaby music to extremely loud and fast overture music. The possibilities were endless and the Romantic composers were taking advantage of this and became even more creative with their pieces which was what eventually led to the Modern era of music (Romantic, …show more content…
He took piano lessons as a child and began composing music when he was 14 years old. At 16, Dukas studied at the Paris Conservatoire, but did not stay long and began his career as a composer and critic. In 1890’s, he wrote his two most famous works, Symphony in C (1896, which was more traditional) and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (1897, which is considered a symphonic masterpiece by many). As a teacher of composition at the Paris Conservatoire, he continued to encourage his pupils. “Dukas had a great skill as an orchestrator. Orchestration is the process of arranging a piece of music to be played by an orchestra, deciding which instruments should play which part (The Sorcerer's Apprentice Music Curriculum Guide, 2010). However, by 1912, he had stopped composing except for one piece for his friend Claude Debussy. Being his own worst critic, toward the end of his life, he destroyed several musical works because he was unsatisfied with them, one which was rumored he worked on for over seven years. (Who is Paul Dukas?, n.d.). Dukas died in 1935 in Paris at the age of