Maurice Duruflé

It starts to disappear in the 19th century with the exception of the French organ school, which sort of preserved this living tradition of improvisation that's continued to this day.

So Maurice Durufle, the great Catholic composer in the mid-20th century, he's a product of this tradition, for instance.

Probably the greatest sacred composer of the past century.

Yeah.

But, um, uh, there's something so familiar to me as a, as a, a conductor and a choral singer, uh, the Latin text to the Requiem is so well-known.

A- after singing Mozart's Requiem, Duruflé's, Verdi, uh, Benjamin Britten's War Requiem, the, the text is, is kind of embedded.

So that was, um, a, um, a pleasant task to work on.

Um, uh, I also had a, a very accomplished, uh, choir to write for with, uh, with, uh, professional leads in a, in an amateur church choir, but singing at a very high level.

She studied at the Paris Conservatory with Marcel Dupré and was awarded four first prizes.

She also studied harmony with Maurice Duruflé.

Marie-Claire became a specialist in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, eventually recording the complete organ works three times.

From the last set of recordings, here is Duetto No. 2, BWV 803, from the third part of Bach's Clavierübung.