The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is a piece for orchestra by the French composer Paul Dukas, first played in 1897. It tells the story of a young helper who casts a spell on a broom and cannot make it stop. The music follows the story step by step, and it lasts about ten minutes. Many adults know it from the 1940 film Fantasia, where Mickey Mouse plays the apprentice.
The story is easy to follow by ear, which makes this a good first long piece for a young child.
Quick facts
- Composer: Paul Dukas, from France
- First played: 1897, in Paris
- Length: about ten minutes
- Based on: a poem by the German writer Goethe, from 1797
- Listen for: the bassoons, which play the broom
The story
An old sorcerer leaves his workshop. His apprentice is tired of carrying water in buckets. He has heard the old man’s magic words, so he tries a spell on a broom.
It works. The broom grows arms, picks up a bucket, and marches to the river and back. The tub fills. The apprentice is pleased.
Then the tub is full, and the broom keeps going. Water spills across the floor. The apprentice does not know the words to end the spell.
He grabs an axe and chops the broom in two. For a moment, all is quiet. Then both halves stand up, and now two brooms carry water twice as fast.
The room floods. The apprentice calls for help. The sorcerer comes back, speaks the right words, and the water is gone. The apprentice is in trouble.
What to listen for
The spell. The piece begins soft and strange. High strings shimmer, and a clarinet and other woodwinds try out a scrap of a tune. The magic is waking up.
The words of power. Muted trumpets and horns bark a short, sharp call. The apprentice has spoken the spell. Then there is a loud thump and silence.
The broom comes to life. Listen for low grunts, one at a time, with gaps between them. The broom is twitching. Then the bassoons start a bouncing march. This is the main tune of the piece.
The work goes well. The tune passes around the orchestra and grows. The strings play fast, running notes, which are the water.
The flood begins. The music gets louder and more crowded. The brass push in. The apprentice’s panic is in the swirling strings.
The axe. The full orchestra hits a few huge chords. Then silence.
Two brooms. The low grunts return. One low instrument starts the march again, and a second joins a moment later. The two halves are up and walking.
The sorcerer returns. At the height of the noise, the brass blast the sharp call from the start. Everything stops.
The ending. The soft, strange music from the opening comes back. Then four fast, loud chords end the piece.
Things to do together
Tell it first. Tell the story before you play the music. A child who knows the plot can follow it by ear.
Raise a hand for the broom. Each time the bassoon tune starts, raise a hand. Count how many times it comes back.
Act it out. One person is the apprentice and one is the broom. The broom marches when the bassoons march. Freeze on the axe chords. Add a second broom for the second half.
Draw the story in six boxes. Fold a sheet into six. Draw the spell, the broom, the full tub, the axe, the two brooms, and the sorcerer. Point to each box as the music reaches it.
Loud and soft map. Give your child a long strip of paper. The crayon line stays low when the music is soft and climbs when it is loud. Dynamics in music explained for kids names what the line shows.
About the composer
Paul Dukas lived from 1865 to 1935. He taught at the music school in Paris and worked as a music critic. He was hard on his own work and destroyed many of his pieces. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is the one that made his name.
Print and play
A listening journal page gives a child space to draw the scene they liked best. To learn what a bassoon is and which family it belongs to, read instruments of the orchestra for kids.
For another piece that tells a story with instruments as characters, try Peter and the Wolf. More guides are listed in classical music listening guides for kids.
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This article is part of Classical music listening guides for kids: famous pieces, one at a time.
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Use it with your kids
Print a listening page, a practice chart, or a composer fact sheet. Or try a tool, such as the composer timeline or the piece picker.