April 11, 2010

Duruflé Requiem

The choir at my church, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, has lately been performing at least one major work each year, usually with a small orchestra. The piece might be a Bach cantata, a requiem, or some other sacred choral work. This year, we are performing the Duruflé Requiem, with the help of the Slippery Rock University Concert Choir & Chamber Singers. Playing the organ for the Requiem, as well as playing three other Duruflé organ works, will be Richard Elliott, the principal organist of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

The concert is Saturday, April 17, 2010. Here is the poster announcing the event (click on the graphic for a larger view):

Duruflé concert poster
I never feel adequately rehearsed for these performances, but this may be primarily because I am not a professional musician. Invariably, the performances seem to be first rate.

This Requiem was the first large choral work I ever sang. I performed it more than 40 years ago in Chicago and fell in love with it. I’m sorry I’ve had to wait so long to sing it again.

I am excited about meeting and working with Richard Elliott, and I am looking forward to hearing him play the Prelude and Fugue on the Name Alain, one of my favorite organ compositions. (Click here to hear a recording of this piece.)

I realize that many people who read this blog have never set foot in Pennsylvania, but I want to invite everyone in the Pittsburgh area to join us this Saturday for what promises to be a wonderful concert.

Directions to St. Paul’s can be found here.

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Posted by Lionel Deimel at 10:12 PM

3 comments:

  1. Pensamento PositivoApril 12, 2010 at 4:43 PM

    Hi lionel!...

    It seems that you have a very beautiful church!... It seems in the Anglo Catholic tradition, no?... I am not very familiar with Anglican churches. I haven't any in my area... And Episcopalian churches here seems to be an impossible dream!... But, in few words how can I identify what is the tradition of a church? How can I distinguish High and low churches?... Or broad?... And the services, are so different between the churches?... Tridentine or Novus Ordo Masses?... And things concerning some traditions like Eucharist reservation or other more or less catholic traditions? Is only practiced in the Anglo Catholic tradition?...

    Excuse me these questions, but the right way to learn something more is speaking with anyone who lives that experience!...

    Good Evening!...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lionel DeimelApril 12, 2010 at 7:59 PM

    I don’t know what church is pictured on the poster, but it isn’t mine. St. Paul’s is lovely, but it’s much simpler.

    You can tell only so much about a church’s services by looking at the architecture. After all, services are easily changed, but architecture isn’t.

    St. Paul’s is a pretty much a middle-of-the-road church.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Pensamento PositivoApril 13, 2010 at 4:21 PM

    Thank you for advice Lionel!... I suppose it was your church!... It make sense to have an architecture to the services and give freedom to each community to pray as they want concerning their traditions!... So you can have all type of churches and all type of priests, dressing like RC Church, dressing only a Choir dress plus a black stole (very common when I search Youtube for the ACNA...) or even no vestments at all!!!... It is curious that when I see the mass in Washington National Cathedral website, I see something like our contemporary RC Mass, except for the fact that it is usually celebrated by a woman!!!... But when I search Youtube for TEC, the majority of masses that I can see are Tridentine Masses!... In Roman Catholic Church we tried to do so with Vatican II, but now we are returning slowly to the old times, unfortunatly...

    Have a good evening!...

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