These two lovely settings of the requiem mass by French composers are separated by nearly sixty years. Gabriel Fauré’s famous composition was first heard in Paris in 1888, and soon became one of his best-known works. Maurice Duruflé’s less well-known but highly moving setting was also premiered in the French capital, in 1947. It is widely regarded as his greatest work.
Both composers were renowned organists in Paris, Fauré at the church of La Madeleine and Duruflé at Sainte-Étienne-du-Mont. We perform the two works accompanied on the organ, played by Cardiff’s David Geoffrey Thomas.
Duruflé’s composition makes extensive use of thematic material drawn from Gregorian chant. This, combined with a choice of texts omitting the usual Dies irae, make it a profoundly calm and reflective work.
This concert provides an opportunity to compare how two master musicians approach setting the familiar Latin words and the emotions of the different movements of the requiem mass – which include the Kyrie, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, and renowned Pie Jesu.
Cardiff Polyphonic Choir will also be performing this programme the following week, on Saturday 23 March at 7.30 pm, in the City of London at St Katharine Cree Church, as part of the Brandenburg Choral Festival of London.