Duruflé Requiem Excerpts - Live Performance
Greater Hazleton Oratorio Society Stephen Kolarac, Guest Organist Robert L. Edwards, Conductor - 1977
Maurice
Duruflé is a man of this century whose musical spirit embraces more than 700 years of styles: from Gregorian chant to early twentieth century harmonies. What makes this piece so fascinating is its application and
incorporation of serene Gregorian chants which dominate this Requiem and serve as the basis for each movement, whether quoted in their entirety, in slight modification, in altered form, or in scant, fragmentary
statements.
There are moments of great intensity where the strength of the choir depicts anguish and fear, albeit briefly as in the Dies Irae, and great exultant joy, as in the Sanctus. These full-bodied
dramatic moments may be likened to impressionist splashes of brilliant colors on a canvas primarily of pastel hues. The dynamic range Mssr. Duruflé requires is extreme: from triple piano to triple forte.
Those who are familiar with these chants, still used today in many churches, will marvel at the richness and color with which Duruflé has imbued them. It is as if these originally non-harmonized melodies had
to wait 700 years for this specific composer to finally apply the harmonies they deserve.
In order to provide permanent documentation of the important sociological and musical contributions of the Greater Hazleton Oratorio Society,
Singers’ Guild of Scranton and Sinfonia da Camera to the lives of residents in Northeastern Pennsylvania, some of the 1977-1986 live performance analog recordings of these community groups were rescued, restored, and
converted to a digital format. Those restorations and the performance excerpts that appear on this website are intended as historical documents not as an entertainment product. The copying or dissemination of these
excerpts is strictly prohibited.