JOSQUIN: Masses based on Gregorian chants 1
NJE 3
(2003), XVII, 83 pp.

Inhoud:
Missa Ave maris stella
Missa De beata virgina / Partitions classique / Ensemble et orchestre / Conducteur / HAL LEONARD

From Quatre Motets Sur Des Themes Gregoriens-Duruflé grew up in Louviers in the northern French region of Haute-Normandie (Upper Normandy) where as a boy he was a chorister and studied piano. At the age of 17 he moved to Paris to study organ with Charles Tournemire. A year later Duruflé wasadmitted to the Paris Conservatoire where he studied organ piano and composition and was awarded five first prizes in various subjects. Upon graduation Duruflé became musical assistant to Louis Vierne at Notre Dame but soon after this wasappointed organist at Saint Étienne-du-Mont in Paris where he would remain for the rest of his life. In 1943 he was appointed professor of harmony at the Conservatoire a position he maintained for 27 years. From 1926 until 1977 Duruflé published 14compositions including the Requiem Op. 9 (1947). Duruflé traveled extensively as a concert organist and was active as a recording artist. Later in life he and his second wife often performed as an organ duo. The composer suffered severe injuriesin an automobile accident in 1975 which left him nearly bed-ridden for the final decade of his life.Composed in 1960 Quatre Motets sur des thèmes grégoriens Op. 10 (Four Motets on Gregorian Themes) were dedicated to Auguste le Guennant director of the Gregorian Institute in Paris. Each of the four motets begins with an incipit of Gregorianchant which serves as melodic inspiration for the composition that follows. The four motets are (in order): ?Ubi caritas ? ?Tota pulchra es ? ?Tu es Petrus ? and ?Tantum ergo.? ?Ubi caritas? is an early Christian antiphon traditionally used in the Maundy Thursday service during the washing of the feet an act of Jesus from the Last Supper. The antiphon has become closely associated with the Eucharist and is sometimes alsoused at weddings. Duruflé sets only the first of the four stanzas of the text.

Cathedrals have always appealed to the imagination. Hundreds of years of manpower have been invested in their building and it is not for nothing that today they represent imposing symbols of architecture and history. The cathedral is also a great source of inspiration for compositions drawing on a full palette of acoustic echo effects Gregorian melodies and organ based choral themes.The work ?Catedrals? opens with a five tone motif using double tonguing which resonates through space. Then comes a Gregorian antiphonal theme ?Salve Regina? which is heard in the euphonium and later combines with the opening motif. The quicker passage that follows is basedentirely on the intervals in the motif which by now has added rhythmic variations and develops in different forms including a fugue. The work then builds towards its first climax from which unusual muted sounds emerge creating an atmosphere shrouded in mystery.Gradually more melodious fragments are added to the Gregorian antiphonal theme which develops into an expansive choral emulating the organ and which rises above the sound mass. The work grows more powerful and brilliant in sound until it culminates in a short and explosive finale wherein elements from the whole work come together.