Maurice Gustave Duruflé (; 11 January 1902 – 16 June 1986) was a French

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

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 ...

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...

, and teacher.

Life and career

Duruflé was born in

Louviers Louviers () is a commune in the Eure department in Normandy in north-western France. Louviers is from Paris and from Rouen. Population History Prehistory In the area around Louviers, cut stones from the Paleolithic era have been fou ...

Eure Eure () is a department in Normandy in Northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2019, Eure had a population of 599,507.Rouen Cathedral Choir School from 1912 to 1918, where he studied piano and organ with Jules Haelling, a pupil of

Alexandre Guilmant Félix-Alexandre Guilmant (; 12 March 1837 – 29 March 1911) was a French organist and composer. He was the organist of La Trinité from 1871 until 1901. A noted pedagogue, performer, and improviser, Guilmant helped found the Schola Cantor ...

. The choral

plainsong Plainsong or plainchant (calque from the French ''plain-chant''; la, cantus planus) is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Western Church. When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in Latin text ...

tradition at Rouen became a strong and lasting influence. At age 17, upon moving to Paris, he took private organ lessons with

Charles Tournemire Charles Arnould Tournemire (22 January 1870 – 3 or 4 November 1939) was a French composer and organist, notable partly for his improvisations, which were often rooted in the music of Gregorian chant. His compositions include eight symphoni ...

, whom he assisted at

Basilique Ste-Clotilde, Paris The Basilica of Saint Clotilde (''Basilique Ste-Clotilde'') is a basilica church in Paris, located on the Rue Las Cases, in the 7th arrondissement. It is best known for its twin spires. History Construction of the church was first mooted by the ...

until 1927. In 1920 Duruflé entered 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 ...

, eventually graduating with first prizes in organ with Eugène Gigout (1922), harmony with

Jean Gallon Jean Charles Claude Gallon (25 June 1878 - 23 June 1959) was a French composer, choir conductor, and music educator. His compositional output consists of six antiphons for strings and organ, one mass, one ballet, and several art songs. Biograph ...

(1924), fugue with Georges Caussade (1924), piano accompaniment with César Abel Estyle (1926) and composition with

Paul Dukas Paul Abraham Dukas ( or ; 1 October 1865 – 17 May 1935) was a French composer, critic, scholar and teacher. A studious man of retiring personality, he was intensely self-critical, having abandoned and destroyed many of his compositions. His b ...

(1928). In 1927,

Louis Vierne Louis Victor Jules Vierne (8 October 1870 – 2 June 1937) was a French organist and composer. As the organist of Notre-Dame de Paris from 1900 until his death, he focused on organ music, including six organ symphonies and a '' Messe solennelle ...

nominated him as his assistant at Notre-Dame. Duruflé and Vierne remained lifelong friends, and Duruflé was at Vierne's side acting as assistant when Vierne died at the console of the Notre-Dame organ on 2 June 1937, even though Duruflé had become titular organist of St-Étienne-du-Mont in Paris in 1929, a position he held for the rest of his life. In 1930 he won a prize for his ''Prélude, adagio et choral varié sur le "Veni Creator"'', and in 1936 he won the

Prix Blumenthal The Prix Blumenthal (or ''Blumenthal Prize'') was a grant or stipend awarded through the philanthropy of Florence Meyer Blumenthal (1875–1930) – and the foundation she created, ''Fondation franco-américaine Florence Blumenthal (Franco-Am ...

. In 1939, he premiered

Francis Poulenc Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include mélodie, songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among th ...

Organ Concerto An organ concerto is a piece of music, an instrumental concerto for a pipe organ soloist with an orchestra. The form first evolved in the 18th century, when composers including Antonio Vivaldi, George Frideric Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach wrote ...

(the ''Concerto for Organ, Strings and Timpani in G minor''); he had advised Poulenc on the registrations of the organ part. In 1943 he became Professor of Harmony at the

, where he worked until 1970; among his pupils were the revered organists Pierre Cochereau,

Jean Guillou Jean Victor Arthur Guillou (18 April 1930 – 26 January 2019) was a French composer, organist, pianist, and pedagogue. Titular Organist at Saint Eustache in Paris, from 1963 to 2015, he was widely known as a composer of instrumental and vocal m ...

and Marie-Claire Alain. In 1947 he completed probably the most famous of his few pieces: the ''

Requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

'' op. 9, for soloists, choir, organ, and orchestra. He had begun composing the work in 1941, following a commission from the

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 ter ...

. Also in 1947, Marie-Madeleine Chevalier became his assistant at St-Étienne-du-Mont. They married on 15 September 1953. (Duruflé's first marriage to Lucette Bousquet, in 1932, ended in civil divorce in 1947 and was declared null by the Vatican on 23 June 1953.) The couple became a famous and popular organ duo, going on tour together several times throughout the sixties and early seventies. He was made a Chevalier de la

Legion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

in 1954. He was promoted to an Officier de la Legion d'honneur in 1966.

Perfectionism

Duruflé was highly critical of his own compositions. He particularly disparaged the third and final movement 'Toccata' from his ''Suite, op. 5'', and never recorded it. He never programmed the Toccata, his ''Sicilienne'' or the Prelude or Adagio from ''Veni Creator''. He published only a handful of works and often continued to edit and change pieces after publication. For instance, the Toccata from ''Suite'' has a completely different ending in the first edition than in the more recent version, and the score to the ''Fugue sur le nom d'Alain'' originally indicated accelerando throughout. The result of this perfectionism is that his music, especially his organ music, tends to be well polished, and is still frequently performed in concerts by organists around the world. Duruflé and his wife were musically conservative. In 1969 they attended a "jazz mass" at St-Étienne-du-Mont. Marie-Madeleine was visibly upset by the experience, and Duruflé called it a scandalous travesty.

Later life and death

Duruflé suffered severe injuries in a car accident on 29 May 1975, and as a result he gave up performing; indeed he was largely confined to his apartment, leaving the service at St-Étienne-du-Mont to his wife Marie-Madeleine (who was also injured in the accident). He died in a clinic at

Louveciennes Louveciennes () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, between Versailles and Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and adjacent to Marly-le-Roi. Populat ...

(near Paris) in 1986, aged 84, never having fully recovered from the accident.

Compositions

Organ solo

* ''Scherzo'' op. 2 (1926) * ''Prélude, adagio et choral varié sur le theme du ' Veni Creator op. 4 (1926/1930) * ''Suite'' op. 5 (1932): ** Prélude ** Sicilienne ** Toccata * ''Prélude et fugue sur le nom d'Alain'' op. 7 (1942) * ''Prélude sur l'introït de l'epiphanie'' op. 13 (1961) * ''Fugue sur le thème du de la Cathédrale de

Soissons Soissons () is a commune in the northern French department of Aisne, in the region of Hauts-de-France. Located on the river Aisne, about northeast of Paris, it is one of the most ancient towns of France, and is probably the ancient capital o ...

'' op. 12 (1962) * ''Méditation'' op. posth. (1964) * ''Lecture à vue'' (unpublished) * ''Fugue'' (unpublished) * ''Lux aeterna'' (unpublished)

Chamber music

* ''Prélude, récitatif et variations'' op. 3 for flute, viola, and piano (1928)

Piano solo

* ''Triptyque'' op. 1: Fantaisie sur des thèmes grégoriens (1927/1943, unpublished) * ''Trois danses'' op. 6 (1932, piano version by the composer): ** Divertissement ** Danse lente ** Tambourin

Piano for 4 hands

* ''Trois danses'' op. 6 (1932, transcribed by the composer): ** Divertissement ** Danse lente ** Tambourin

Two pianos

* ''Trois danses'' op. 6 (1932, transcribed by the composer): ** Divertissement ** Danse lente ** Tambourin

Orchestral works

* ''Trois danses'' op. 6 (1932): ** Divertissement ** Danse lente ** Tambourin * ''Andante et scherzo'' op. 8 (1940)

Choral works

* ''Requiem'' Op. 9:James E. Frazier
Chapter Sixteen: ''The Vichy Commissions''", pp. 156–165
an
"Chapter Seventeen: ''The'' Requiem", pp. 166–180
i
''Maurice Duruflé: The Man and His Music''.
University Rochester Press, 2007. ** For vocal soloists, choir and (large) orchestra (normally including organ, but can be performed without one): commissioned as a symphonic poem in 1941; completed in September 1947; first performed on 2 November 1947; published in 1950 ** For the same vocal forces and organ ("organ reduction" version; cello ad libitum in one movement): published in 1948 ** For the same vocal forces, organ and (reduced) orchestra (several instruments ad libitum, but one or more string instruments in every movement): published in 1961 ** For the same vocal forces and piano (unpublished) * ''

Quatre Motets sur des thèmes grégoriens ' (Four motets on Gregorian themes), Op. 10, are four sacred motets composed by Maurice Duruflé in 1960, based on Gregorian themes. He set Ubi caritas et amor, Tota pulchra es, Tu es Petrus and Tantum ergo. History Maurice Duruflé composed ...

'' op. 10 for choir a cappella (1960): ** Ubi caritas et amor ** Tota pulchra es ** Tu es Petrus ** Tantum ergo * ''Messe "Cum jubilo"'' op. 11 for baritone solo, male choir, and orchestra (1966): ** Version with organ (1967) ** Version with orchestra (1970) ** Version with small orchestra (1972) * '' Notre Père'' op. 14 for unison male choir and organ (1977) ** Version for 4-part mixed choir a capella (1978)

Miscellaneous works

* ''Chant Donné: Hommage à Jean Gallon'' (1953) * ''Sicilienne'' from ''Suite'' op. 5 for small orchestra (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, and string quintet, unpublished)

Transcriptions

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

** Two

chorale Chorale is the name of several related musical forms originating in the music genre of the Lutheran chorale: * Hymn tune of a Lutheran hymn (e.g. the melody of "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"), or a tune in a similar format (e.g. one of the th ...

s from cantatas

BWV 22 The (BWV; ; ) is a catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990. An abbreviated version of that second edition, known as BWV2a ...

and

147 147 may refer to: * 147 (number), a natural number * AD 147, a year of the Julian calendar, in the second century * 147 BC, a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar * 147 AH, a year in the Islamic calendar that corresponds to 764 – 765 CE ...

, arranged for organ solo, 1952 ** 4 chorales preludes for organ, orchestrated 1942-45: *** ''Nun komm' der Heiden Heiland'' ( Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes) *** ''Nun freut euch, lieben Christen gmein'', BWV 734 *** ''O Lamm Gottes unschuldig'', BWV 656 (Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes) *** ''In dir ist Freude'', BWV 615 (''Orgelbüchlein'') *

** ''Soirs étrangers'', op. 56, for violoncello and piano, orchestrated 1943: *** ''Grenade'' *** ''Sur le Léman'' *** ''Venise'' *** ''Steppe Canadien'' *** ''Poisson chinois'' ** ''Ballade du désespéré'', op. 61, lyrical poem for tenor solo and piano, orchestrated 1943 ** Three improvisations for organ (Notre-Dame-de-Paris, November 1928), transcribed 1954: *** ''Marche épiscopale'' *** ''Méditation'' *** ''Cortège'' * Maurice Duruflé: ''

'', op. 9, for voices and piano (1947) *

** Five improvisations for organ (Ste Clotilde, Paris, 1930/1931), transcribed 1956–58: *** ''Petite rapsodie improvisée'' *** ''Cantilène improvisée'' *** ''Improvisation sur le

Te Deum The "Te Deum" (, ; from its incipit, , ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to AD 387 authorship, but with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin Ch ...

'' *** ''Fantaisie-Improvisation sur l' Ave maris stella'' *** ''Choral-Improvisation sur le Victimae paschali'' *

Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (; 12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers ...

: Prelude of '' Pelléas et Mélisande'', transcribed for organ solo *

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

: ''Lamentation'', transcribed for organ solo

References

Sources

* Darasse, Xavier. "Maurice Duruflé", in ''Guide de la musique d'orgue'', edited by

Gilles Cantagrel Gilles Cantagrel (born 20 November 1937) is a French musicologist, writer, lecturer and music educator. Biography Born in Paris, Cantagrel studied physics, art history and music at the École Normale de Musique de Paris and at the Conserva ...

. Paris:

Fayard Fayard (complete name: ''Librairie Arthème Fayard'') is a French Paris-based publishing house established in 1857. Fayard is controlled by Hachette Livre. In 1999, Éditions Pauvert became part of Fayard. Claude Durand was director of Fayar ...

, 1991: 335–337. * James E. Frazier
''Maurice Duruflé: The Man & His Music''
(The Boydell Press 2007) * Ronald Ebrecht, ed. ''Maurice Duruflé (1902–1986): The Last Impressionist.'' Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2002. . * Jörg Abbing. ''Maurice Duruflé. Aspekte zu Leben und Werk''. Verlag Peter Ewers, 2002. . * Frédéric Blanc. ''Maurice Duruflé. Souvenirs et autres écrits''. Éditions Atlantica-Séguier, 2005. .

External links

Association de Maurice et Marie-Madeleine Duruflé

Maurice Duruflé
at ''Requiem Survey''
Pseudo-poseidonios.net

{{DEFAULTSORT:Durufle, Maurice 1902 births 1986 deaths People from Louviers 20th-century classical composers Composers for pipe organ French classical composers French male classical composers French classical organists French male organists French Roman Catholics Organ improvisers Conservatoire de Paris alumni Conservatoire de Paris faculty Prix Blumenthal 20th-century French composers 20th-century French male musicians Male classical organists