Maurice Duruflé: Requiem Op. 9, Suite Op. 5 – Guillou Consort

Maurice Duruflé composed between 1932 and 1933 his Suite opus 5. It is a triptych consisting of a Prelude, a Sicilienne and a Toccata. The Prelude is an ample movement of symphonic character; the Sicilienne is a totally chamber music piece, with a sensual Fauréian flavour; the concluding Toccata is dazzling and of developed proportions. Maurice Duruflé’s vocal works are composed of few pages, which are nevertheless particularly striking. The Requiem, recorded here in the composer’s own version for the organ, is built entirely on the Gregorian themes of the Messe des Défunts. The work is a natural descendant of Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem, far from the grandiloquence of Verdi, and reveals a form of synthesis that was a priori improbable. On the one hand, the use of Gregorian chant gives the work a great deal of rhythmic flexibility, as well as a form of interiority due to the modal colour of the expected harmonies, with which Duruflé was familiar. But on the other hand, the composer’s other tendency is also particularly highlighted, that of the sensuality of “beautiful harmony” (subtly different from that underlying the Gregorian), as well as of the refinement of timbre and orchestral colour, both of which are heirs to the musical tradition mentioned above, into which Duruflé was most obviously, naturally and faithfully drawn. This unlikely combination made the work an instant success.