Sacred Choral and Organ Works Vol 2: Messe Cum Jubilo / Organ Suite, Op. 5

"This pair of Naxos CDs is noteworthy, essential listening, I would venture to suggest, for anyone who, like me, professes a deep love for Durufle's music."
- Gramophone

Born at Louviers on 11th March 1902, Maurice Duruflé began his musical studies in Rouen. A chorister at the cathedral from 1912 to 1918, he studied at the same time the piano, organ and theory, under the direction of Jules Haelling, cathedral organist and former pupil of Alexandre Guilmant (1837- 1911). Encouraged by his teacher, the young musician went to Paris in 1919 to complete his education. There he studied the organ, at first under Charles Tournemire, whose assistant he was at Sainte-Clotilde, then under Louis Vierne, thus benefiting from the teaching of two leading exponents of French organ music. A year after arriving in Paris, he entered the Conservatoire and studied the organ there under Eugène Gigout, while receiving instruction in harmony from Jean Gallon, in counterpoint and fugue from Georges Caussade and in composition from Paul Dukas. Evidence of his exceptional ability as an organist is seen in the award of premier accessit in 1921 and first prize in 1922.

In 1929, after the competition organized by the Friends of the Organ, Maurice Duruflé was awarded a prize for interpretation and improvisation and the following year, in the same competition, he won the composition prize for his Prélude, Adagio et Choral varié du Veni Creator, Opus 4. It was at this time that he also became organist at the church of Saint-Etienne-du- Mont, a position he shared after 1953 with his wife Marie-Madeleine Duruflé- Chevalier. In 1943 he suceeded R Pech at the Paris Conservatoire and taught harmony there until 1969.

Maurice Duruflé had quickly made a name for himself as a virtubso organist and it was no accident that Francis Poulenc consulted him before writing his Organ Concerto, of which Duruflé gave the first performance in June 1939 at the Salle Gaveau. He was widely recognised beyond the frontiers of France and undertook many recital tours throughout Europe, in the Soviet Union and North America. Warmly welcomed at his first appearance in the United States in 1964, he returned thereafter every year until a car accident in May 1975 put an end to his career as a performer. He died on 11th June 1986.