Durufle Requiem
The concert began with Litanies à la Vierge Noire (Litany to the Black Virgin) by Francis Poulenc.
This piece was written in 1936, setting a litany recited at the pilgrimage site Rocamadeur, which Poulenc visited shortly after learning of the death of his friend, the composer Pierre-Octave Ferraud in a car accident. It is his first piece of sacred music. It was set for female voices and organ and intended to get across the atmosphere of "peasant devotion" which had struck him so forcefully in the lofty chapel. It is sung here by the Consort ladies.
We continued with Trois pièces pour Grande Orgue by Jehan Alain
(1911-1940), who was one of the foremost French composers for the organ of the 20th Century until his career was tragically cut short on active service in 1940. The three pieces were not conceived as a set but they complement each other and aptly demonstrate the musical influence of Debussy and Messian, particularly in the second piece "Le Jardin Suspendu". The first piece "Variations sur un theme de Clement Janequin" shows his interest in Baroque and Renaissance music, while the third, ""Litanies", is his most famous work, demonstrating his interest in the music and dances of the far east.
The Choir continued the first half with "Quatre petites prières de Saint François d'Assise" also by Francis Poulenc and dated to 1948 when his great-nephew Jerome, a Franciscan friar in the monastery of Champfleury near Poissy, sent him french translations of four prayers attributed to St. Francis of Assisi with the request that he set them to music. This was achieved within a few weeks. He commented that he wanted to set a sign of humility with the setting, as evidenced by the simple solo heard at the beginning of the fourth piece, "like a monk leading his brothers in prayer". The four pieces were titled "Salut, Dame Sainte", "Tout puissant", "Seigneur, je vus en prie" and "O mes très chers frères", and are sung by the gentlemen of the choir.
This was followed by Hymn à la Vierge by Pierre Villette
(1926-1998). Villette studied with Maurice Duruflé before attending the Paris Conservatoire. This is one of his best known works and has been sung in the annual service of nine lessons and carols at King's College, Cambridge. Villette is perhaps not as well known in France, perhaps because he has held regional positions rather than posts in Paris.
To complete the first half, the choir performed Psaume 150 by César Franck
(1822-1890). Franck worked in Paris as a composer, pianist, organist and music teacher. He was born in Liége, which at the time of his birth was part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. This setting of psalm 150 dates from 1884 and is one of his late works, showing the highly individual elements of the composer's style in concentrated form.
The whole of the second half of the programme was devoted to the Requiem by Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986). Born in Louviers in 1902, Duruflé became a chorister at Rouen Cathedral at the age of ten. The choral plainsong tradition at Rouen proved to be a strong and lasting influence - indeed the Requiem incorporates sketches from an organ suite composed using themes from the Gregorian "Mass for the Dead". At the age of 17 he moved to Paris, studying organ and composition. In 1927 he became assistant to Louis Vierne at Notre-Dame and was at Vierne's side when he died at the organ on 2nd June 1937. The Requiem was commissioned in 1942 under the Vichy regime, but this third version was completed some six years later. Duruflé, a perfectionist, continued to edit and change pieces after publication. The result of this perfectionism is that his music tends to be well polished and is frequently performed around the world. Duruflé suffered severe injuries in a car accident in 1975 and retired from performance as a result. He died in Louveciennes, near Paris, in 1986.
