Maurice Duruflé

The French composer Maurice Duruflé (1902–1986) is best known in the music world as the creator of one of the most beautiful and heartfelt renderings of Requiem of the 20th century. At the same time, as an organ virtuoso and composer, he continued the tradition of the great French organ school, passing the baton from his teacher, Louis Vierne, a pupil of Franck and Widor, to the younger generation.

A native of Normandy, Duruflé learned to play the organ at Rouen Cathedral. He also took lessons from Louis Vierne and Charles Tourenmire. In 1919, Duruflé moved to Paris, where he studied organ, harmony, and composition in Paul Dukas’ class at the Conservatoire from 1920 to 1928.  Among his fellow students was Olivier Messiaen. Duruflé also assisted and stood in for Vierne in his duties at Notre Dame Cathedral. This connection continued even after Duruflé was appointed titular organist at the Paris parish church of Saint-Etienne-du-Mont in 1930. He was sitting next to Vierne in the organ loft of Notre Dame when the latter suffered a fatal stroke during his last concert in 1937.

In 1943, Duruflé himself was appointed to the Conservatoire to teach organ and harmony. Numerous well-known organists such as Marie-Claire Alain and Pierre Cochereau passed through his school. He also served at Saint-Etienne-du-Mont over the years. As a famous virtuoso and conductor of his own works, Duruflé toured numerous European countries, the USA, and the Soviet Union. After a serious traffic accident in 1975, he was forced to withdraw from public life.

Duruflé’s compositional output is modest, consisting mainly of vocal music and organ works. The latter are part of the standard repertoire for organ. Stylistically, Duruflé followed the examples of Maurice Ravel and Gabriel Faure. Duruflé drew further inspiration from Gregorian chant. As outdated as this artistic approach may seem in the second half of the 20th century, Duruflé succeeded in creating impressive works in this vein, the Requiem being the best example.