Summary: The SATB choir and organ version of Maurice Duruflé's Requiem, Op. 9 was published in 1948 by the French firm Durand. It had been commissioned six years earlier under the collaborationist Vichy regime, but Duruflé was still working on it in 1944 when the regime collapsed and in fact did not complete it until the year of publication. The composer dedicated the Requiem to the memory of his father. The work is for SATB choir with brief mezzo-soprano and baritone solos. It exists in versions for organ alone; for organ with string orchestra and optional trumpets, harp and timpani; and for organ and full orchestra. At the time of commission, Duruflé 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. CMD Chorus and Philharmonic of Paris Dominique Beaulieu, conductor Purchase this recording now at: http://www.classicalsavings.com/store/p474/Durufle%3A_Requiem%2C_Op._9.html
