Durufle Ubi Caritas
  • ncicero
    Posts: 38
    Hello all,

    I'd love to do the Durufle setting of Ubi Caritas for Holy Thursday this year, as it's been something I've desired to do for a while. Due to Covid, our full choir isn't meeting right now, but I've been lucky enough to be able to hire small groups of singers to sing approximately once a month. In the past, there have been four singers in these groups, but since we have a fair amount of space for social distancing, I could probably get away with having five singers in the loft.

    Given the amount of divisi in this particular setting, is it a complete pipe dream to do it with four or five singers? Has anyone attempted such a task and would be willing to share which divisi they kept and which they left out? I suspect it is just a matter of careful reworking, but I wanted to see if anyone had any insight!

    Thanks!
  • I've done it with 4 a half dozen times. Not hard to rework.

    Or, even easier, just buy the piece reharmonized for you already: https://www.jwpepper.com/Ubi-Caritas/3301634.item#/
    Thanked by 1ncicero
  • davido
    Posts: 874
    This piece also works really nicely as an organ/solo voice motet as we discovered toward the beginning of the pandemic
    Thanked by 1mmeladirectress
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    Thanks so much for the info on the reharmonization!
  • SATB, with a piano reduction - how does this work?
    https://orfeomusicfestival.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/durufle-ubi-caritas.pdf

    davido (or anyone else) can you post a score of Ubi Caritas (not necessarily Durufle, but following the Chant melody) as just an organ solo?
  • The Baker adaptation works well for the vast majority of parish choirs (I presume) - it lays out for us directors what we'd probably have to do on our own, anyway.