(Our Father), Op. 14, is a sacred

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Margar ...

by Maurice Duruflé, setting the

Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...

in French as a sacred

. It was published for voice and organ in 1977, and for a four-part choir

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

in 1978, by Éditions Durand. The composer dedicated his last published composition to his wife, Marie-Madeleine Duruflé. It is his last published composition, and his only work suitable for congregational singing.

History

Duruflé, who was organist in at

Saint-Étienne-du-Mont Saint-Étienne-du-Mont is a church in Paris, France, on the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève in the 5th arrondissement, near the Panthéon. It contains the shrine of St. Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris. The church also contains the tombs of Bl ...

in Paris and also director of the

Gregorian Institute of Paris The Gregorian Institute of Paris was a pedagogical and religious establishment founded in Paris in 1923 having in view the musicianship of Gregorian chant. This institute was created following a Parisian congress devoted to Gregorian chant and sac ...

, set the

in French as for liturgical use. It was a commission from a priest at Saint-Etienne. It is his only work suitable for congregational singing, as requested by the Second Vatican Council. He regretted the decline of Gregorian chant in Latin which had influenced his earlier compositions. He wrote first a version for unison male voices with organ, then a transcription for a four-part choir

. Both versions were published by Éditions Durand, dedicated to his wife, Marie-Madeleine Duruflé, the unison version in 1977 and the choral version in 1978. It became his last published composition, which appeared also with an English translation.

Music

The melody of ''Notre Père'' is chant-like, although not original Gregorian chant. Like chant, it is in free motion and with narrow ambitus, and the beginning uses the same notes as the chant melody. It is written in reverential approach to the prayer, with a subtle treatment of

harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

used to interpret the significant text in homophony. The composition is in F major, mostly in triple meter but shifting to 2/4 time when the natural flow of the text demands it. The four-part setting is accessible, and the unison version can also be performed by children's choirs.

References

Cited sources

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External links

Notre Père
French National Library
Notre Père
musicanet.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Notre Pere Compositions by Maurice Duruflé Motets Catholic music 1977 compositions 1978 compositions Lord's Prayer Compositions in F major