Voices of Connection: 08/13 Duruflé Requiem

These are the two final movements from Duruflé’s great Requiem. The “Libera me” begins with a surprising trumpet note, low and almost ugly (the “last trumpets” of the Judgement Day, no doubt). The basses sing a plaintive melody, with an underpinning of urgency and uncertainty in the strings. The music becomes more and more chaotic until it spews forth in a brief fortissimo. A smoldering, swirling, agitated string undercurrent continues, while the men sing a rather desperate cry, Tremens factus (“I am trembling.”) Sudden string attacks announce the Day of Wrath (Dies Irae). As this calms down, we find ourselves in a new, ethereal world where the pure soprano tones sing the chant Requiem aeterna.  The movement ends with a return of the Libera melody, serious and with resignation.

As soon as we hear the first few notes of the In Paradisum we know we are in another world – luminous, universal, timeless. The sopranos enter with the ancient chant, at first accompanied only by organ and harp. Then a shimmering string halo appears. The final phrases of the chant are given to the organ, high up on a flute stop. The chorus finishes in a ritualistic manner. As the voices fade away, lower and lower, the strings ascend, disappearing into the heavens. The souls move on to their eternal Paradise. - Dennis Keene

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MAURICE DURUFLÉ “Libera me” and “ In Paradisum” from Requiem

Voices of Ascension
Dennis Keene, Artistic Director
Mark Kruczek, Organ

from the Delos recording The Duruflé Album ℗ 1995 Delos
The singers in this performance are represented by the American Guild of Musical Artists, AFL-CIO.

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