Paul Dukas - The Sorcerer's Apprentice (1939)

"The Sorcerer's Apprentice" by Paul Dukas


Olivier Messiaen in turn studied under fellow French composer Paul Dukas.  Dukas's first recording (that I could find) was the popular 1937 recording of The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Scherzo for Orchestra) made by Leopold Stokowski (again) and the Philadelphia Orchestra.  It was packaged with another recording and released as an album in 1939.

Sidenote:  I believe (though not 100% certain) that this is the same recording used in Disney's Fantasia.

Here is the discography surrounding Paul Dukas's debut album:

The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Scherzo for Orchestra)

Pass the Headphones!!

Olivier Messiaen - La Nativité du Seigneur (1957)

"La Nativité du Seigneur" by Olivier Messiaen


A note from this blog's curator:  composers are tough and don't easily fit into this blog's format (the same goes for jazz musicians and most musicians whose work came out in the first half of the 20th century).  I'm going to do my best to find the earliest possible recordings of these artists, but I don't have the time or resources to be a completionist towards their work as I am with modern recordings.  A lot of such early recordings are likely to never have made the digitizing jump anyway.  Still, I hope to explore as much work of these artists as I can.  Back to the show.

Stockhausen studied under French composer and organist Olivier Messiaen.  Messiaen's La Nativité du Seigneur released in 1957.  Stokowski (who is very prevalent as a conductor on many early popular classical recordings) recorded a handful of Messiaen compositions and released them in 1949.

Here is the discography surrounding Olivier Messiaen's debut album:

Leopold Stokowski Conducts Messiaen and Vaughan Williams (1949 album)
La Nativité du Seigneur

Pass the Headphones!!