Duruflé Requiem with Choir and Organ: Remembering Pandemic Victims

Requiem for the Victims of the Pandemic, and All Our Beloved Departed
 
Maurice Duruflé
Requiem, op. 9

Livestreamed at YouTube.com/archdioceseofsanfrancisco
 
Director: Ash Walker
Organ: Christoph Tietze
Singers:  St. Mary’s Cathedral Choir, with members of Pacific Edge Voices and The Benedict Sixteen and Friends.
 
It is our wish that this performance will bring hope and consolation to those mourning the loss of a loved one, especially the victims of the pandemic.

CLICK HERE FOR THE YOUTUBE LIVESTREAM CHANNEL

Program Notes

The powerful Requiem by Maurice Duruflé, premiered in 1948, will be performed in its organ-and-choir version by the semi-professional St. Mary’s Cathedral Choir, joined by members of Pacific Edge Voices and The Benedict Sixteen, and others. Under the direction of Ash Walker and with Christoph Tietze at the organ, the 25 singers will stand in a grand circle along the inside perimeter of the cathedral, with the distance from singer to singer being 20 feet and the distance across being 200 feet. This surround-sound experience will be spectacular and is not to be missed.
 
Duruflé’s inspiration from Fauré’s Requiem is quite evident: Both works have a similar movement structure and textural treatment, and both works end on an unstable chord (Fauré ends on a second inversion triad, Duruflé on a dominant ninth chord), signifying that death is not the end. But that is where the similarities end. Duruflé uses Gregorian chant throughout this work, woven in a Post-Romantic/Impressionistic style which is all his own.

Because of public-health regulations, concerts and recitals in St. Mary's Cathedral are not open to the public. These 4:00 pm Sunday musical performances are livestreamed, and free. On special occasions, such as today, a pre-recorded performance may be streamed. A free-will donation on the cathedral's Donation Page to support the Cathedral's music program is always appreciated.

DOWNLOAD A PDF PROGRAM HERE.