Join us to mark the season of Remembrance with the Schola Cantorum of Ampleforth College as they perform Duruflé's Requiem in the inspiring setting of Ampleforth Abbey. Join us on November 9, 2025 at 4:00 PM for an unforgettable musical experience.
The Requiem, Op. 9, is a 1947 (revised 1961) setting of the Latin Requiem by Maurice Duruflé for a baritone, mezzo-soprano and mixed choir. The thematic material is mostly taken from the Mass for the Dead in Gregorian Chant.
Maurice Duruflé was among French composers commissioned in May 1941 by the collaborationist Vichy regime to write extended works for a monetary award, such as 10,000 francs for a symphonic poem, 20,000 for a symphony, and 30,000 for an opera. Duruflé, commissioned to compose a symphonic poem, decided to compose a Requiem and was still working on it in 1944 when the regime collapsed. He completed it in September 1947.
He set the Latin text of the Requiem Mass, omitting certain parts in the tradition of Gabriel Fauré's Requiem and structuring it in nine movements. At the time of the commission, he was working on an organ suite using themes from Gregorian chants. He incorporated his sketches for that work into the Requiem, which uses numerous themes from the Gregorian "Mass for the Dead". Nearly all the thematic material in the work comes from chant. Duruflé scored the work for a solo voice in the central movement, Pie Jesu, and a mixed choir, accompanied by organ or orchestra. The composer dedicated the Requiem to the memory of his father.
The Requiem was published in 1948 by the French publishing house Durand, first issued in a version for SATB choir and organ. Duruflé demanded payment for the commissioned work and received 30,000 francs, instead of the 10,000 of his commission, because of the complex nature of his work and inflation during that time.
The Schola Cantorum of Ampleforth College was established in 1970 at the request of Basil Hume to help preserve the singing of music written for the Roman Catholic Church, along with the best examples from other traditions, in the context for which it was written: the celebration of Mass. This remains the at the very heart of the Schola’s mission. In addition, the choirs sing meditations at key moments in the Liturgical Year and are joined by professional soloists and orchestras for oratorios. There is an annual performances of Handel’s Messiah at Christmas and Fauré’s Requiem near the Feast of All Souls. Bach’s St John and St Matthew Passion, Britten’s Ceremony of Carols and Haydn’s Creation have all been performed in recent years.
