Quatre Motets sur des thèmes grégoriens

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Quatre Motets
sur des thèmes grégoriens
Motets by Maurice Duruflé
The composer c. 1962
EnglishFour motets on Gregorian themes
Opus10
Textliturgical and biblical texts
LanguageLatin
Composed1960 (1960)
DedicationAuguste Le Guennant
Performed4 May 1961 (1961-05-04): Paris
Published1960 (1960)
ScoringSATB a cappella

Quatre Motets sur des thèmes grégoriens (Four motets on Gregorian themes),

themes
. He set Ubi caritas et amor, Tota pulchra es, Tu es Petrus and Tantum ergo.

History

church of Saint-Merri in Paris by the Chorale Stéphane Caillat.[1]

Structure, texts and music

The four motets set Latin texts for different liturgical occasions:[1][3]

  1. Ubi caritas et amor
  2. Tota pulchra es
  3. Tu es Petrus
  4. Tantum ergo

The text for the first motet is

St. Thomas Aquinas.[3]

In the four motets, Duruflé based his music on Gregorian chant. He combines the chant lines with a polyphonic setting.[3] The chant is always present in one or more voices.[2] The music has been described as "rich in subtle harmonies, well-written for voices, and reminiscent of impressionism".[4] A reviewer notes: "Here Duruflé shows his particular genius for invoking the spiritual element of plainsong in a polyphonic context, achieving a suppleness of rhythm alongside strong characterization of each text."[3]

Recordings

In recordings, the motets are often combined with Duruflé's Requiem, sharing the same approach of polyphonic music based on Gregorian chant. They have been recorded for example by

Westminster Abbey Choir, conducted by James O'Donnell, performed Tu es Petrus for an album The Feast of Saint Peter the Apostle at Westminster Abbey.[3]
The Houston Chamber Choir's recording, Duruflé: Complete Choral Works won the award for Best Choral Performance at the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards in January 2020.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c Association Durufle 2017.
  2. ^ a b Cochard 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Sutton 1989.
  4. ^ Cologne 2017.
  5. ^ "Grammy® Award 2020".

Bibliography

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