 Dukas took piano lessons, but showed no unusual musical talent until he was 14 when he began to compose while recovering from an illness.He entered the Conservatoire de Paris at the end of 1881, aged 16, and studied piano with Georges Mathias, harmony with Théodore Dubois and composition with Ernest Guiraud.Among his fellow students was Claude Debussy, with whom Dukas formed a close friendship.