Maurice Duruflé's prefered work, interpreted at Saint-Sulpice organ by Daniel Roth, who was his student in harmony class at the Paris Conservatory 1960-1962. Many thanks to Ken Starr (Boston), for his help with translation.
How lucky we are to have RU-vid! It affords us the privilege of hearing fantastic performances such as this. Such a moving reading of a wonderful piece of music. M Roth is without doubt one of the finest players in the world, particularly when it comes to this repertoire. Perfection.
That kind of humility and kindness is completely typical of him... which I know from his having been one of my console assistants for my own concert at St-Sulpice.
One of the most hauntingly and poignantly beautiful works in ALL of music, not just for the organ. The one time I used it as a prelude to a church service (Palm Sunday '99) I was excoriated for it. The Philistines prevailed!
Wat een hoog niveau weer van Daniel Roth! Maar ik ben eigenlijk niets anders gewend van deze fantastische man. Merci bien voor allen, ook de twee vaste registranten.
When I lived in Paris in the 60's I would toss a coin each Sunday to decide whether to listen to Dupre or Durufle I love both of them but listening to this I think Durufle touches us deeply or is that because of M. Roth's brilliant interpretation? Thank you for posting look forward to seeing more of the mechanics.
Surely Dupré was one of the greatest of organist virtuosi, but to me Duruflé's far smaller output was work far more refined and powerful and sustained in meaning and unshakeable grip far surpassing mere virtuosity, though it's certainly also virtuosic. I've heard his insatiably demanding perfectionism drove him to destroy a number of his works he deemed to be too inferior so that his wife took to hiding them to prevent the tragic loss! I can and do listen to Duruflé for hours, especially the sacred works;* it wouldn't be so easy for me to do that with the great virtuosi Dupré or Demessieux, of whose content I can tire if much more than an hour. *=I once listened to the profound op. 14 Notre Pére (=Our Father, both original accompanied men's and revised unaccompanied SATB versions) spellbound for nearly an hour (thanks to my mp3 player's variable repeat button) before I realized it.
@BVale Dupre was actually a student of Guilmant, and Vierne. Widor was a lifelong mentor and friend of the family, who saw Dupre as an almost peer in ability.
A beautiful performance of a wonderful piece and the organ--mon dieu! Nice high-def video allows a glimpse into the way the console works--so interesting!
Thank you so much for helping to preserve and make available this magnificent performance of Daniel Roth. Imagine if the technology that we now have of visual and auditory recording had existed in the past the vast treasure we would have of Widor, and Dupre and so many others.
Beautiful rendition. Perfect. Clearly a difficult organ to play in several respects, but Daniel knows it like the back of his hand. Sensational performance. Thanks for sharing.
Очень трогательная музыка. Слышно, что Даниель Рот действительно любит эту прелюдию. А инструмент… один из лучших на Земле. Почему такую музыку не услышать в России нигде, кроме как в специализированных местах? Вместо сериалов включать хорошую музыку! Уважаемый Пьер-Франсуа, спасибо вам за труд и возможность услышать великолепный инструмент. Спасибо из России Франции :-)
Just absolutely love watching your videos... Would love to see some more that include you also playing! Oh how I want to visit and listen to Mr. Roth play!
(from Wikipedia)Duruflé was highly critical of his own composition. He published only a handful of works and often continued to edit and change pieces after publication. For instance, the Toccata from Suite, op. 5 has a completely different ending in the first edition than in the more recent version, and the score to the Fugue sur le nom d'Alain originally indicated accelerando throughout. The result of this perfectionism is that his music, especially his organ music, tends to be well polished, and is still frequently performed in concerts by organists around the world.
Yes Some CD releases of older performers. Great Cathedral Organs (box set) Marcel Dupre (Living Presence Recordings - box set) The Art of Virgil Fox - Six discs sold seperately. Virgil Fox Encores Richard Purvis at Grace Cathedral Festival Music - Douglas Major Marsha Long - German and French Romantic Organ Music Marie Claire Alain - Complete Bach Organ Works E. Power Biggs - Festival of French Organ Music This is a great start...
It seems that when I listened to various recordings about one year ago, you could hear the "clickety-clack" of the Barker mechanism. But the recordings I listen to today do not seem to have that sound. Has there been some change made to suppress that sound??Thanks for your timeJAK
Hi, thanks for your question. In this video, there is only sound from the naive. In some other ones, I add sound at the console, so that one can hear and better understand interactions between organist and registrants + better understand the mechanic/pneumatic "combination" system invented by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll in 1862 !
A shame that the music of M Durufle has not yet ‘touched’ you. Having discovered his music some years ago, I never cease to be both moved and inspired by his wonderful compositions. This and his tribute to Jean Alain with his Prelude and Fugue remain for me, the most wonderful works.
Music that doesn't touch my soul at all. Completely different to JS Bach's organ work. I would even go so far to say that this kind of music does not belong to a church. But that is my personal opinion.
I am sorry to hear that you do not appreciate the beauty of Durufle's music. Most of his compositions are based on chant that pre date JS Bach. As time has passed I have grown to appreciate and love his music more and more.
Yes, I think time is a key factor. When I first heard Widor I didn't like it. But now....I am big fan of his music. I like his organ symph. no 6 very much.