Synopsis

On today’s date in 1935, at the Church of St. François-Xavier in Paris, organist Geneviève de la Salle gave the first complete performance of the three-movement Organ Suite, by French composer and virtuoso organist Maurice Duruflé.

If you sing in a choir or are a fan of choral classics, you probably know Duruflé’s serene and tranquil Requiem, which premiered about 12 years later.

Now, if Duruflé’s Organ Suite, Op. 5, premiered in 1935 and his Requiem, Op. 9, in 1947, you might reasonably conclude the composer was a slow, meticulous worker, which he was. In all, Duruflé’s output comprises less than 15 published works, of which seven are for organ. His Organ Suite consists of a brooding “Prélude,” a “Sicilienne” — which evokes the harmonies and inflections of Ravel — and a brilliant, concluding “Toccata.”

Duruflé’s music is firmly embedded in the French tradition of organ composers such as César Franck and Louis Vierne, and Duruflé’s composition teacher, Paul Dukas. The great French organist Marie-Claire Alain described Duruflé’s music as “perfectly honest art.”

“He was not an innovator but a traditionalist,” she said “… Duruflé evolved and amplified the old traditions, making them his own."

Music Played in Today's Program

Maurice Durufle (1902-1986) Organ Suite; Todd Wilson (Schudi organ at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Dallas, Texas) Delos 3047