Jeanne Marie-Madeleine Duruflé (''née'' Chevalier; 8 May 1921 – 5 October 1999) was a French
organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational h ...
. Regarded as the last of the French school of organists, she played works by
Widor
Charles-Marie-Jean-Albert Widor (21 February 1844 – 12 March 1937) was a French organist, composer and teacher of the mid-Romantic era, most notable for his ten organ symphonies. His Toccata from the fifth organ symphony has become one of th ...
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 fr ...
. She and her husband were both organists at Saint-Étienne-du-Mont in Paris, and toured internationally, especially in the U.S..
Life and career
Jeanne Marie-Madeleine Chevalier was born in
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
on 8 May 1921, the daughter of Auguste-Marie Chevalier and Suzanne Chevalier-Rigoir. When she was age six, the family moved to
Cavaillon
Cavaillon (; Provençal: ''Cavalhon'') is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. She grew up with a sister, Elaine, who would become a solfege teacher and a choral conductor in Paris. Marie-Madeleine was soon recognized as very talented. She began piano lessons with her grandmother, and began to compose piano pieces. When she was 11, she was appointed organist of the . At the age of 12, she began to study at the Conservatoire d'Avignon. She planned to study further in Paris at age 18, but remained in the South due to the outbreak of the Second World War.
In 1946, at the age of 25, she began to study under
Marcel Dupré
Marcel Jean-Jules Dupré () (3 May 1886 – 30 May 1971) was a French organist, composer, and pedagogue.
Biography
Born in Rouen into a wealthy musical family, Marcel Dupré was a child prodigy. His father Aimable Albert Dupré was titular o ...
at the
Conservatoire de Paris
The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...
, where she won first prize in organ. She met
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 fr ...
, her future husband, at the Conservatoire where he was a substitute for Dupré during tours. In 1947, she became assistant-organist at the church of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont in Paris, where her future husband had been organist since 1930. In 1953, she received the Grand Prix International Charles-Marie Widor for organ and improvisation in Lyon.
The couple married in 1953. She composed ''Six Fables de La Fontaine'' for unaccompanied choir in 1959 for the children's choir that her sister directed. She and husband toured and gave concerts together, appearing in the U.S. for the first time in 1964. They also toured in Europe and the USSR. During her tours with her husband, she used to play the most impressive works. In an interview for ''The New York Times'' in 1989, she admitted it was on purpose: "My husband was a very great virtuose at the organ, but once he became my husband, I worked harder than him. He used to tell me often: 'you will play the most difficult pieces, and I will play the ones of interpretation'".
In 1975 the couple were involved in a car accident in the south of France. She injured her ribs and pelvis; her husband Maurice was more seriously wounded, having broken both legs. He gave up performing, while she continued to play as the organist at Saint-Étienne-du-Mont until 1996.
In 1989, three years after her husband's death, Duruflé took part in a festival "Duruflé" in New York, her first international recital in 15 years. Her last public concert took place at the Ascension Church in New York City in 1993.
Duruflé died at age 79. The obituary in
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
summarised:
Awards
* 1949: First Prize for interpretation and improvisation at the Conservatoire de Paris
* 1953: Grand Prix International Charles-Marie Widor for organ and improvisation
* 5 June 1987: Officier des Arts et Lettres