Paul Dukas

Paul Dukas is a rare case: a composer famous for a single piece, by his own choice. Born in Paris in 1865, he spent his career there as a respected critic and a teacher at the Paris Conservatoire, where his students included Olivier Messiaen. He was also his own harshest judge. He published only a handful of works and, late in life, burned many of the rest rather than let anything imperfect survive him.

The piece everyone knows is L'Apprenti sorcier, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, from 1897, a brilliantly told orchestral version of Goethe's poem about a magician's assistant who enchants a broom to fetch water and can't make it stop. Disney's Fantasia, with Mickey Mouse in the apprentice's robe, fixed it in popular memory for good.

Start with The Sorcerer's Apprentice, then try the Symphony in C major to hear how much else was in him.