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Duruflé Requiem on All Soul's Day |
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For the evening choral mass on All Souls’ Day (Monday, November 2, at 7:30 pm), the choir and I are preparing the Requiem, Op. 9 (1947) by Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986). To help make this an especially memorable musical occasion, we are seeking to augment the Parish Choir with singers from outside, including students from area colleges. As it is not a work that lends itself to being directed from the console, we shall have as our guest conductor Robert A. M. Ross, an outstanding choral director and composer in this area. He is the husband of our alto section leader Pam Hitchcock. We are fortunate to be able to secure his services for this event.
Duruflé received his early musical education at the choir school in Rouen where he deputized for his teacher at the cathedral. In 1918 he went to Paris to play for Charles Tournemire (1870-1939), who prepared him for entry into the Conservatoire. Duruflé became Tournemire’s deputy at Ste. Clotilde, where César Franck had been organist. Among his other teachers were Eugène Gigout, Louis Vierne, and Paul Dukas. In 1927 he deputized for Vierne at Notre Dame, and in 1930 he was appointed organist of St. Etienne-du-Mont where he remained for the rest of his life. He also served as professor of harmony at the Conservatoire (1943-1970), where his students included Pierre Cochereau, Jean Guillou, and Marie-Claire Alain.
Writing in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Nicholas Kaye observes that Duruflé was “introspective and enormously self-critical”. His published output as a composer was not large, but it is of remarkable quality. Many regard the Requiem as his masterpiece. It is closely based on the plainsong of the Gregorian Missa pro Defunctis. Kaye goes on to say that “plainsong is the life-blood of most of his works but its use proves liberating rather than restrictive, inspiring modal harmonies, polyphonic structures and, often, changes of mood ranging from the ethereal to the powerfully foreboding.” I cannot imagine a better short description of the impression left on the listener by Duruflé’s Requiem. It is music of great spiritual profundity and eloquence.
Duruflé’s only other choral works are the Four Motets on Gregorian Themes (1960), the Messe “Cum Jubilo” (1966) for men’s voices, and a very brief setting in French of the Our Father (1978). One of the Four Motets, “Ubi caritas”, has been in the Good Shepherd repertoire for some years. We sing it during the foot-washing ceremony on Maundy Thursday, as its text is one of the antiphons prescribed for that occasion.
It is my hope that members of the Parish will show their support by attending this special liturgy. All Souls’ Day is a time for us to remember our loved ones and all the faithful departed. When the Anglican world is in such a state of turmoil and confusion, it is also a time to affirm our adherence to the faith and convictions of that “cloud of witnesses” who have gone before us.
--WJG |
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