Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 12:07, 17 October 2018

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Requiem" Duruflé – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message) The factual accuracy of part of this article is disputed. The dispute is about several topics including date of composition/publication. Please help to ensure that disputed statements are reliably sourced. See the relevant discussion on the talk page. (August 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article may be unbalanced toward certain viewpoints. Please improve the article by adding information on neglected viewpoints, or discuss the issue on the talk page. (August 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Requiem
by Maurice Duruflé
Beginning of the second movement, Kyrie, in the organ version
Opus	Op. 9
Text	Requiem
Language	Latin
Based on	Gregorian plainchant
Dedication	To the memory of his father
Movements	9

The Requiem, Op. 9, is a setting of the Latin Requiem by Maurice Duruflé for a solo voice, mixed choir, and organ, or orchestra with organ. The thematic material is mostly taken from the Mass for the Dead in Gregorian chant. The Requiem was first published in 1948 by Durand in an organ version.

History

Maurice Duruflé was among French composers commissioned in May 1941 by the collaborationist Vichy regime to write extended works for a monetary award, such as 10,000 francs for a symphonic poem, 20,000 for a symphony, and 30,000 for an opera. Duruflé, commissioned to compose a symphonic poem, decided to compose a Requiem and was still working on it in 1944 when the regime collapsed. He completed it in September 1947.

He set the Latin text of the Requiem Mass, omitting certain parts in the tradition of Gabriel Fauré's Requiem and structured in nine movements. At the time of the commission, he was working on an organ suite using themes from Gregorian chants. He incorporated his sketches for that work into the Requiem, which uses numerous themes from the Gregorian "Mass for the Dead". Nearly all the thematic material in the work comes from chant. Duruflé scored the work for a solo voice in the central movement, Pie Jesu, and a mixed choir, accompanied by organ or orchestra. The composer dedicated the Requiem to the memory of his father.

The Requiem was published in 1948 by the French publishing house Durand, first issued in a version for SATB choir and organ. Duruflé demanded payment for the commissioned work and received 30,000 francs, instead of the 10,000 of his commission, because of the complex nature of his work and inflation during that time.{{[sfn|Frazier|2007|p=157}}

Structure and scoring

Duruflé structured the work in nine movements:

1. Introit (Requiem aeternam)
2. Kyrie eleison
3. Offertory (Domine Jesu Christe)
4. Sanctus and Benedictus
5. Pie Jesu
6. Agnus Dei
7. Communion (Lux aeterna)
8. Libera me
9. In Paradisum

The work is for SATB choir with brief mezzo-soprano and baritone solos. It exists in three versions: one for organ alone (with obbligato solo for cello); one for organ with string orchestra and optional trumpets, harp, and timpani; and one for organ and full orchestra.

Like many requiems, Duruflé's omits the Gradual and the Tract. The Dies irae text, perhaps the most famous portion of the Requiem Mass, is not set. Duruflé's omission of this text and inclusion of others (Pie Jesu, Libera me, In Paradisum, from the burial service, mirroring Fauré) makes the composition calmer and more meditative than some other settings. In the full score, the fifth movement, Pie Jesu, has the only solo for the mezzo-soprano; in addition, even in the organ-only version of the Requiem, there is an obbligato cello solo. The baritone soloist has parts in the third and eighth movements, "Domine Jesu Christe" and "Libera me." Duruflé left indications in the score that, for the baritone solos, it was preferable to have the choir sing the solos instead. This has resulted in variations in different performances, some with both soloists, some with only the mezzo-soprano, and some (such as Robert Shaw's Telarc recording) using no soloists at all.

Instrumentation

The full-orchestra version is scored for 3 flutes (2nd and 3rd doubling piccolo), 2 oboes (2nd doubling 2nd English horn), English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 French horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, cymbals, bass drum, tamtam, celesta, harp, organ, and strings (violins, violas, cellos, and double basses).

The reduced-orchestra version is scored for 3 trumpets, timpani, harp, organ, and strings (violins, violas, cellos, and double basses). The organ part used in the reduced version is different from the organ part used in the version for choir and organ.

Discography

• Guy Janssens, A history of the Requiem - Part III, Laudantes Consort, Benoît Mernier, Organ - CD: Cypres CYP 1654, 2006 (with Bruckner's Requiem)
• Stetson University Concert Choir, Requiem, Alan Raines Conducting, Boyd Jones Organ - CD: Clear Note 74390, 2008. Publisher's store; Album info (archived)
• Requiem Æternam, The Choir of Somerville College, Oxford (David Crown, conductor; Tristan Mitchard, organ), Stone Records 5060192780208, 2012 (with Robin Milford’s Mass for Five Voices)
• Durufle Requiem & Four Motets; Ann Murray, mezzo-soprano; Thomas Allen, baritone; Thomas Trotter, organ; Corydon Singers; English Chamber Orchestra; Matthew Best, conductor. CD: Hyperion Records Limited CDA66191, recorded October 1985
• Durufle Requiem * Quatre Motets * Messe Cum Jubilo; Westminster Cathedral Choir / James O'Donnell; Hyperion CDA66757, recorded on 22-24 June, 6-8 July 1994

References

1. Frazier 2007, pp. 156–157.
2. Frazier 2007, p. 166.
3. ^ Creasy, Barry. "Requiem – Maurice Duruflé (1902 - 1986)". Collegium Musicum of London. British Choirs on the Net. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
4. ^ Gammie, David (2014). "Requiem, Op. 9". Hyperion. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
5. Maurice Duruflé / Requiem / Choers à 4 Voix (S.A.T.B.). Durand. 1948.
6. Coghlan, Alexandra (2016). "Duruflé Requiem". Gramophone. Retrieved 3 August 2017.

Cited sources

• Frazier, James E. (2007). Chapter Sixteen: The Vichy Commissions / Chapter Seventeen: The Requiem. University Rochester Press. pp. 156–180. ISBN 978-1-58-046227-3. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

• Cooksey, Karen Lou (2000). "The Duruflé Requiem: A Guide for Interpretation". Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection. Butler University. Retrieved 1 March 2007.
• Dellal, Pamela (2017). "Miscellaneous Translations / Requiem / Maurice Duruflé". Emmanuel Music. Retrieved 1 March 2007.
• Oestreich, James R. (16 November 1989). "Review/Music; Maurice Durufle Requiem Opens 3-Part Retrospective". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 March 2007.
• Platt, Russell (8 March 2012). "Elegant Theft: Maurice Duruflé's Requiem". The New Yorker. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
• Kaye, Nicholas. (2001, January 01). "Duruflé, Maurice." Grove Music Online. Ed. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
• "Maurice Gustave Duruflé / 1902 - 1986 / France". requiemsurvey.org. 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2017.

• Compositions by Maurice Duruflé
• Choral compositions
• 1948 compositions
• Requiem Masses