Maurice Duruflé’s
Requiem Mass

Maurice Duruflé created a requiem as sweet and beautiful as Fauré’s, but for different reasons: for the most part, the music is built on old Gregorian chant melodies, an unprecedented innovation. These harmonized chants are sustained, but not overpowered by the orchestral accompaniment.

The requiems of Gabriel Fauré and Maurice Duruflé stand virtually alone prior to Rutter’s to live up to the name of the very genre: requiem, for they bring peace to the tumultuous requiems of the past with their Dies iræ, their Confutatis and Lacrimosa.

Requiem

  • Introitus
  • Kyrie
  • Offertorium (Domine Jesus Christe)
  • Sanctus
  • Pie Jesus
  • Agnus Dei
  • Lux æterna
  • Libera me
  • In paradisum

Introitus
Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion,
et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem.
Exaudi orationem meam;
ad te omnis caro veniet.
Rest eternal grant them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine on them.
To thee praise is due, O God, in Zion,
and to thee vows are recited in Jerusalem.
Hear my prayer;
unto thee all flesh shall come.
Kyrie
Kyrie eleison.
Christe eleison.
Kyrie eleison.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Offertorium (Domine Jesu Christe)
Domine Jesu Christe, Rex gloriæ,
libera animas defunctorum
libera animas omnium fidelium defunctorum
de pœnis inferni,
et de profundo lacu.
Libera eas de ore leonis,
ne absorbeat eas tartarus,
ne cadant in obscurum.
Sed signifer sanctus Michæl
repræsentet eas in lucem sanctam,
quam olim Abrahæ promisisti,
et semini eius.
Hostias et preces tibi,
Domine, laudis offerimus.
Tu suscipe pro animabus illis
quarum hodie memoriam facimus.
Fac eas, Domine,
de morte transire ad vitam,
quam olim Abrahæ promisisti,
et semini eius.
Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory,
deliver the souls of all the faithful dead
from punishment in the inferno,
and from the infernal lake.
Deliver them from the mouth of the lion,
lest the abyss swallow them up,
lest they fall into the darkness.
And let Thy standard-bearer, Saint Michæl,
take them back into Thy light,
as Thou of old didst promise Abraham
and his seed.
Sacrifices and prayers to thee,
O Lord, we offer with praise.
O receive them for the souls of those
whom today we commemorate.
Make them, O Lord,
to pass from death to life,
as Thou of old didst promise Abraham
and his seed.
Sanctus
Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus,
Dominus Deus Sabaoth.
Pleni sunt cœli et terra
gloria tua.
Hosanna in excelsis.
Benedictus qui venit
in nomine domini.
Hosanna in excelsis.
Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God of hosts.
The heavens and earth are filled
with Thy glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who cometh
in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
Pie Jesus
Pie Jesu Domine,
dona eis requiem,
requiem sempiternam.
Merciful Lord Jesus,
grant them rest,
rest everlasting.
Agnus Dei
Agnus Dei,
qui tollis peccata mundi,
dona eis requiem,
requiem sempiternam.
Lamb of God,
who taketh away the sins of the world,
Grant them rest,
rest everlasting.
Lux æterna
Lux æterna luceat eis, Domine,
cum sanctis tuis in æternum,
quia pius es.
Requiem æternam, dona eis, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Let light eternal shine on them, O Lord,
with Thy saints forever,
for Thou art merciful.
Rest eternal grant them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine on them.
Libera me
Libera me, Domine,
de morte æterna,
in die illa tremenda
quando cœli movendi sunt et terra,
dum veneris judicare
sæculum per ignem
Tremens factus sum ego, et timeo
dum discussio venerit,
atque ventura ira.
Dies illa, dies iræ,
calamitatis et miseriæ,
dies magna et amara valde.
Dum veneris judicare sæculum per ignem.
Requiem æternam, dona eis, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Deliver me, O Lord,
from eternal death,
on that fearful day
when the heavens are moved and the earth
when Thou shalt come to judge
the world through fire.
I am made to tremble, and I fear,
when the desolation shall come,
and also the coming wrath.
That day, the day of wrath,
calamity, and misery,
that terrible and exceedingly bitter day,
Until Thou comest to judge the world by fire.
Rest eternal grant them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine on them.
Valedictio (In paradisium)
In paradisum deducant te angeli,
in tuo adventu
suscipiant te martyres;
et perducant te
in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem.
Chorus angelorum te suscipiat,
et cum Lazaro quondam paupere
æternam habeas requiem.
May the angels lead you into paradise,
in your coming
may the martyrs receive you;
and may they guide you
into the holy city, Jerusalem.
May the chorus of angels receive you
and with Lazarus once poor
may you have eternal rest.