http://imslp.org/wiki/Requiem,_Op.48_(Faur%C3%A9,_Gabriel)

Durufles Requiem is hands down one of the most beautiful musical works I've ever heard.

I have played several Durufle's organ pieces. I am sort of a good reader, but am not sure if I can get ready for it by the time :( since I continue to hear from people that it is one of the most difficult pieces.

I just heard from our music director that she wants to perform Durufle's Requiem this November 2.

Wait. She's just starting to work on this now? Good luck to her and the Red Sox!

I have played the Durufle twice (once on two weeks notice, which was not fun). It is like a puzzle. But even more difficult than playing it is registering it. I pray you have an organ with enough colour in it to make it worthwhile. The clue is to practice, practice and more practice.

Message me if I can be of help. I have some notes that Mdme. Durufle gave about it.

I was once in a similar position, and I flat out refused (at the time I was the organ scholar at a program, and my organ professor just laughed out loud when I told him about the idea). With my professor's backing, I refused to play any movements - he had influence at the program. Sounds like you are not so lucky...

For comparison, the real question is whether you have played Durufle's Veni Creator Prelude, Adagio, and Choral Variations. Much more difficult than the Suite (I've played both). If you can learn a piece at least as difficult as (but longer than) the Prelude and Adagio in the next two months, and play it while following an obviously inexperienced (or at least unwise) director and amateur choir in the mirror, then more power to you! I've also conducted the Requiem, and personally I would never perform it unless I had an organist of repute who had the piece and a couple of performances under their belt already. No offense to you - it's just extremely difficult and unforgiving, as others have said.

Two practical suggestions, from a conductor and organist, if the director actually wants to do a nice job on the piece:

1 - hire an organist of repute who already has the piece in their repertoire, and fly/drive them in for the week. This is what most people do when performing the work, and if they're lucky they can find someone semi-local to work with. Depends on where you are in the country. It's also going to be a difficult year for that, since All Souls' is a Sunday and Durufle organists are few and far between.

2 - for about the same price point, hire an excellent string quartet and perform the organ and chamber orchestra version with you playing. The organ part to that is somewhat lighter in texture and easier to play, plus you have the strings so it's a bit more forgiving. Plus, just four good string players add an incredible amount to the performance experience. The quartet really has to be good - not your wedding special quartet. I'd look at the nearest university with a faculty string quartet...

Nov. 2 falls on a Sunday, on average, once every seven years. When it does, it should be the occasion to model good liturgical music that can be used at funerals in the parish.

While singing the Mozart or Fauré or Duruflé requiem may be a great treat for a choir, none of these settings are going to be used at the typical parish funeral Mass. So resist the temptation to showcase one or other of them at a weekend Mass on Nov. 2. Do things which may go a long way in improving the music used at parish funerals. People are apt to choose poorer music for their loved ones' funerals (e.g., Be Not Afraid) simply because they never experience anything better.

If one really wants to sing one of these settings, plan something special, such as a memorial service (not a Mass) for all parishioners who have passed away in the previous year to be held in the afternoon or evening of Nov. 2. Make it a Sunday Vesper liturgy or a liturgy of the word (with a short homily) and incorporate the choral Requiem into the liturgy.

I see what you're going for, Fr. Krisman, but I think you're playing to the lowest common denominator...which is fine. What's better? Play both ends.

At the choir Mass, do something "big" like this. At the others, do what you suggest. At our place, I don't worry too much about the funeral Mass preferences of the choir Mass crowd: they are all there because of the music or ceremonial. At the others, it's more of a mixed bag.

I do have to disagree with taking Masses out of liturgical context, though: I understand the difficulty of doing a big Kyrie and Gloria in the reformed liturgy (YMMV), but I think there's a real efficacy to using a choral ordinary in its intended context. For example:

1) As a student, I was fortunate to experience the Frank Martin Mass in its intended environment (it was an EF Mass, I think). It was amazing how I really felt I had new insight into the Mass itself AND that piece as a result.

2) Later, a large, well-known program which will remain nameless had the habit of doing big polyphonic Masses (even Mozart with instruments) as preludes to Mass, then having Mass of Creation or something similar as the actual Ordinary of the Mass. This struck me as a huge impoverishment of all involved. It was clear to me that the message was: this is great music, but not the music we should worship with in the 21st Century. I don't think that's a message that is consistent with the teachings of Vatican II on sacred music.

Anyhow, not recommending everyone here starts doing the Coronation Mass every week for every Mass: just a plea that everyone try to see where they really are (and where they might need to go).

While singing the Mozart or Fauré or Duruflé requiem may be a great treat for a choir, none of these settings are going to be used at the typical parish funeral Mass. So resist the temptation to showcase one or other of them at a weekend Mass on Nov. 2.

This isn't meant at all to be an insult to you, Father, as I like you and agree with most of what you say here.

But isn't this exactly the kind of thinking over the years that has gotten us into the mess that we find ourselves in today?

Fr. Krisman,

I have to agree with Bruce on this one - it is not an either/or proposition. An average parish might have 4-5 masses on a weekend these days, and only the choir mass would feature the Requiem music. I reject outright the idea that every single liturgy at a parish has to be exactly the same as all the others - what an impoverishment of the liturgy! And nowhere ever mandated by church legislation. The choir mass might look different than the schola mass, might look different than the cantor mass. Great! Unity does not mean uniformity.

Your larger point may be that a choral requiem mass is a bad model for a funeral liturgy, period. I strongly disagree with this idea as well, provided the music is matched sensitively with the liturgy (e.g. in Mozart leaving out movements that are too long or unwieldy to fit with the liturgical action). The interesting thing about requiem masses is that in them we have famous musical settings of the Proper of the Mass. So I don't see Faure on Nov. 2nd as showcasing the piece as much as "SINGING THE MASS" with the most beautiful music we have available. In our case (Faure for All Souls'), the entire Ordinary will be sung by the congregation, along with dialogues, responsorial psalm, gospel acclamation, etc. A wonderful balance of choir and congregation singing - not a "poor model for music." And for a family with resources or ties to the choir, a choral requiem might very well be a beautiful model for the funeral of a loved one.

However, disagreement aside, I am genuinely supportive of your idea of modelling fine funeral music at the non-choral liturgies. And I would genuinely appreciate it if you would offer your suggestions for excellent music at a cantor/organist funeral. I have been stumped here sometimes, beyond going for a few "better" hymns such as I Know that My Redeemer Lives. I'm not 100% sure what to suggest for people who want the best possible but only have a cantor/keyboardist present. Maybe you could start a thread for that topic? Could be some valuable insights from the forum, too.

I will just add - by your logic, Father, the full parish choir will also not be present at the vast majority of funerals. Does this mean we should not have a choir at all on the weekend of Nov. 2nd? In other words, every week the choir Mass is exceptional, not typical.

I may have the choir sing In Paradisum at the choir mass, perhaps cantors as well at the other masses. I don't intend to try a requiem since trying to fit those older forms to the current mass is a bit like square pegs into round holes. I will leave requiems to the EF crowd where the forms more closely fit the functions.

Durufle and Reger cause great consternation in a person my age. Fear and trembling along with dread... ;-)

In Paradisum-I hate auto correct!

I do love the Martin Mass for double choir. But as to its intended environment? My understanding was that Martin wrote it as a very personal expression of his deep faith, but that he then put it in a drawer and never intended to share it with the world.

Hey Father, isn't this just proof that composers can be pusillanimous? Effects of original sin? God wanted that Mass sung! :)

Some more items for your reality-check-list ...
(1) seated at console playing from score, where is director standing?
(2) who is your page-turner?
(3) how many registration pistons do you have _OR_ who is your registrant?

matthew - are gregorian chant trained scholas present at many funerals in your parish? Is this the norm or even the case more than 50% of the time? Personally, I am only slightly more likely to have a trained schola available for a parish funeral than I am to have the parish choir and organist necessary for a simple setting like the Faure.

I think it's great what Fr. Krisman said, and we should use this opportunity to model good funeral music. At the same time, I don't see this as a reason not to do a larger polyphonic or orchestral setting at the choir Mass. I remember conducting the Durufle for All Souls at a midwestern parish that had never done anything remotely like that. Afterwards a woman came up to me with tears in her eyes, and said that was the most beautiful mass she had attended in 40+ years at the parish. The single other most-heard comment that day was "heavenly", referring to liturgy and music. It seems very silly to me to avoid liturgies like that, simply to model a more middle-of-the road music that people are more likely to have at their funerals. I would say, take All Souls on Sunday as an opportunity to do the best you can with what you have.