The Sorcerer's Apprentice (score & parts) - WW5

The Sorcerer's Apprentice
for woodwind quintet
by Paul Dukas (1865-1935) - French composer, critic, scholar and teacher

Arranged by James Kassal

This arrangement preserves the essence of the original, full orchestral version of this delightful piece in an abbreviated form. It begins with the quiet shimmering of the sorcerer performing magic and continues to his raucous admonition of the apprentice to get to his chores. That gives way to the first instance of the famous bassoon depiction of a broom that’s been enchanted by the sorcerer’s apprentice to perform his chore of carting buckets of water. This arrangement then portrays an out-of-control broom that’s bringing too much water in, the apprentice’s attempt to stop the broom by smashing it with an ax, and the resumption of work by the broomstick pieces. Following even more chaos, the sorcerer reappears, reverses the spell to stop the broomsticks, and chastises the repentant apprentice. Playing time is about 6 minutes.