The Requiem, Op.9, is a 1947 (revised 1961) setting of the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

Requiem by

Maurice Duruflé Maurice Gustave Duruflé (; 11 January 1902 – 16 June 1986) was a French composer, organist, musicologist, and teacher. Life and career Duruflé was born in Louviers, Eure in 1902. He became a chorister at the Rouen Cathedral Choir School ...

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 Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe dur ...

. The Requiem was first published in 1948 by Durand in an organ version.

History

was among French composers commissioned in May 1941 by the

collaborationist Wartime collaboration is cooperation with the enemy against one's country of citizenship in wartime, and in the words of historian Gerhard Hirschfeld, "is as old as war and the occupation of foreign territory". The term ''collaborator'' dates to t ...

Vichy regime Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...

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

text of the Requiem Mass, omitting certain parts in the tradition of Gabriel Fauré's Requiem and structuring it in nine movements. At the time of the commission, he was working on an organ suite using themes from

s. 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 SATB is an initialism that describes the scoring of compositions for choirs, and also choirs (or consorts) of instruments. The initials are for the voice types: S for soprano, A for alto, T for tenor and B for bass. Choral music Four-part ...

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.

Structure and scoring

Duruflé structured the work in nine movements: # Introit (''Requiem aeternam'') # Kyrie eleison #

Offertory The offertory (from Medieval Latin ''offertorium'' and Late Latin ''offerre'') is the part of a Eucharistic service when the bread and wine for use in the service are ceremonially placed on the altar. A collection of alms (offerings) from the ...

(Domine Jesu Christe), Choir & baritone solo #

Sanctus The Sanctus ( la, Sanctus, "Holy") is a hymn in Christian liturgy. It may also be called the ''epinikios hymnos'' ( el, ἐπινίκιος ὕμνος, "Hymn of Victory") when referring to the Greek rendition. In Western Christianity, th ...

and Benedictus # Pie Jesu, Mezzo-soprano solo, optional solo cello # Agnus Dei # Communion ( Lux aeterna) # Libera me, Choir & baritone solo # In paradisum The work is for

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...

with brief mezzo-soprano and baritone solos. It exists in three versions: one for organ alone (with ''obbligato'' solo for

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

); one for organ with string orchestra and optional

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standar ...

s, harp, and

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditiona ...

; and one for organ and full

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

. Like Fauré in his Requiem, Duruflé's omits most of the liturgical Dies Irae, but sets its part Pie Jesu. He includes Libera me and In Paradisum, from the burial service, again like Fauré, focused on calmness and a meditative character. The central movement, Pie Jesu, has the only solo for the mezzo-soprano.

Instrumentation

The full-orchestra version is scored for 3 flutes (2nd and 3rd doubling piccolo), 2

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. ...

s (2nd doubling 2nd English horn), English horn, 2 clarinets,

bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave ...

, 2 bassoons, 4

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

s, 3

s, 3 trombones,

tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece (brass), mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th&n ...

, cymbals,

bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter much greater than the drum's depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. T ...

tamtam The tamtam, sometimes spelled tam-tam, is a type of gong. TamTam, Tam-Tam, tamtam, or tam-tam may also refer to: * ''Tam-Tam'' (album), a 1983 album by Amanda Lear * Tam Tam (''Samurai Shodown''), a character from the fighting game ''Samurai Sh ...

celesta The celesta or celeste , also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five- octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music box ...

, harp, organ, and strings (

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

s, and

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

es). The reduced-orchestra version is scored for 3

, harp, organ, and strings (

s, and

es). 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 Benoît Mernier (born 16 December 1964) is a Belgian classical organist and composer. Biography Born in Bastogne, he was a student of Philippe Boesmans. He is also professor of organ and improvisation at the Higher Institute of Music and Pedago ...

, 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 storeAlbum 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 The English Chamber Orchestra (ECO) is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and their ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall. The orchestra regularly tours in the UK and internation ...

; 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 * Houston Chamber Choir, '' Duruflé: Complete Choral Works;'' Robert Simpson, Conductor; Cecilia Duarte, mezzo-soprano; Eduardo Terdero, baritone; Ken Cowan, organ; Norman Fischer, cello. CD: Signum Records, SIGCD571. Released on May 4, 2019. Recipient of the 2020

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

for Best Choral Performance.

References

Cited sources

* *

External links

* * * * * Kaye, Nicholas. (1 January 2001)
"Duruflé, Maurice."
''Grove Music Online.'' Ed. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
Maurice Gustave Duruflé
''Requiem Survey''. {{authority control Compositions by Maurice Duruflé Choral compositions 1948 compositions Music for orchestra and organ Durufle