Maurice Durufle (1902-1986) is not exactly one of those classical composers most of us have on their top 40 list. But he is on my top 10 list. Let me tell you why.
Maurice Durufle was one of those composers who probably destroyed more of his music than he allowed to be published. As a result only a scant fourteen works survive to this day. They are finely wrought, beautifully polished works which are a joy both to perform and to listen to.
Who was Durufle? Well, he was an organist by training. A native of Normandy and a chorister at the Cathedral in Rouen he went on to become the assistant to two of the most distinguished Parisian organists of their day: Charles Tournemire at Eglise St. Clotilde where Cesar Franck had been organist and Louis Vierne who was Organist of Notre Dame Cathedral. Working with these gentlemen gave Durufle the opportunity to rub shoulders every day with the ancient music of the church which he loved so much, namely, Gregorian Chant.
Durufle studied at the Conservatoire where his composition teacher was Paul Dukas whose own Sorcerer's Apprentice we hear regularly on The Classical Station. From 1930 until his death in 1986 Maurice Durufle was the Organist of Eglise St. Etienne du Mont which is located in the St. Germain des Pres area of Paris.
In 1953 Durufle married Marie-Madeleine Chevalier who was a distinguished organist in her own right. Mme. Durufle served as her husband's assistant at St. Etienne du Mont. I had the good fortune years ago to host Mme. Durufle when she came to play an organ recital at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Bay Shore, Long Island, New York. Her playing was stunning. All from memory. But what I remember quite distinctly was that she played wearing gold pumps. And she practiced the recital music from the last bar back to the first. From memory. French classically trained musicians like the Durufles were expected to know every note of the music they played. Inside out and backwards. After the rigors of the conservatory training the Durufles had undergone, this was simply part of the drill.
Maurice Durufle wrote several fine compositions for solo organ. In my day I played his Prelude et Fugue sur le nom d'Alain which he dedicated to the memory of Jehan Alain who was killed in World War II. Jehan was part of the musical Alain family which included his famous sister, the organist Marie-Claire Alain. The Prelude and Fugue never ceased to please me as it lay well under my fingers yet it stretched my keyboard technique in order to execute the fluttering effects of the Prelude. There was no stopping the Fugue once you started. It pressed relentlessly on until the final triumphant cadence.
The simple, elegant melodies of chant provide the architonic framework to much of Durufle's sacred music. Around these eternal melodies the composer wove the most stunning filigree of harmonies and polyphony. Listen to his Missa Cum Jubilo, Op.11, the Requiem, Op.9 and 4 Motets on Gregorian Themes, Op.10 to hear what I am talking about. Durufle takes classical art forms and dresses them in the highest Parisian musical fashion one could ever ask for.
Maurice Durufle was born on January 11, 1902.
By Rob Kennedy
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