The Amaryllis Choir invites you to Duruflé's Requiem
With Tommaso Mazzoletti on organ, Gladys Ançay Campion on cello and soprano Na Delcommune-Lin, we offer a program based on Maurice Duruflé's Requiem.
“This Requiem is not an ethereal work that sings of detachment from earthly cares. It reflects man's anguish before the mystery of his final end... It tends to translate human feelings in the face of their terrifying, inexplicable or consoling destiny.” Maurice Duruflé (1902 - 1986)
Completed in 1947, the Requiem is a major work in Maurice Duruflé's limited output. The work is dedicated by the composer to the memory of his father. Duruflé draws on Gregorian themes, and brings them to life in a calm, meditative work. The score exists in three orchestrations, and we present it here in its version for organ and cello. The solo baritone parts are entrusted to the choir's baritones, as the composer suggested.
Often compared to Fauré's requiem, in terms of text selection, orchestration choices and soloists, Duruflé's work is different. Whereas Fauré evokes a “lullaby of death”, Duruflé describes it in far more dramatic terms. We will attempt an interpretation along these lines, with plenty of contrast and emotion.
The concert's centerpiece will be accompanied by some of the finest works for organ and choir by César Franck and Gabriel Fauré, as well as a piece for organ and cello by Camille Saint-Saëns.
