Maurice Duruflé: Requiem and Motets – Copenhagen Bach Choir

Experience classical sacred music at the highest level when Copenhagen Bach Choir performs Maurice Duruflé's most significant works. The evening features Requiem opus 9 and four Gregorian motets opus 10 – compositions rooted in a thousand years of church music tradition.

Duruflé (1906–1986) was an organist, composer and teacher trained as a church musician in the great French organ tradition alongside Louis Vierne and Olivier Messiaen. His artistic perfectionism meant that his relatively few works – only 14 opus numbers – are meticulously crafted in every detail. Both Requiem and motets are deeply inspired by Gregorian chant, yet combined with advanced harmony and lyrical expression familiar from contemporaries such as Poulenc, Milhaud and Ravel.

Requiem was begun in 1941 as a commission from the Vichy regime but was not completed until 1947. It became Duruflé's largest work – a mass for the dead for baritone, mezzo-soprano, mixed choir, cello and organ. The four short motets followed 13 years later: three for mixed choir, one for three-part women's choir – all intimate and almost mystical in their expression.

Performers

• Mezzo-soprano: Anna Caroline Olesen
• Baritone: Lauritz Jakob Thomsen
• Cello: Juliane B. Soewarta
• Organ: Isak Birkemose Soewarta
• Conductor: Christian Tophøj Buur

Practical Information

Admission 150 kr. Tickets available via Biletto, PolPlus or at the door.