A new, deeply researched biography of the great French organist, who composed some of the best-loved works in the organ repertory -- and the masterfulRequiem.

Maurice Duruflé: The Man and His Music is a new biography of the great French organist and composer (1902-86), and the most comprehensive in any language. James E. Frazier traces Duruflé's musical training, his studies withTournemire and Vierne, and his career as an organist, church musician, composer, recitalist, Conservatoire professor, and orchestral musician. Frazier also examines the career and contributions of Duruflé's wife, the formidable organist Marie-Madeleine Duruflé-Chevalier.
Duruflé brought the church's unique language of plainsong into a compelling liaison with the secular harmonies of the modern French school (as typified by Debussy, Ravel, and Dukas)in works for his own instrument and in his widely loved masterpiece, theRequiem Op. 9 for soloists, chorus, organ, and orchestra.
Drawing on the accounts of those who knew Duruflé personally as well as on Frazier's own detailed researchMaurice Duruflé offers a broad sketch of this modest and elusive man, widely recognized today for having created some of the greatest works in the organ repertory -- and the masterfulRequiem.

James E. Frazier holds advanced degrees in philosophy, organ, theology, and sacred music from St. Alphonsus College, Mt. St. Alphonsus Seminary, Hartt School of Music, the Yale University Divinity School, and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. He served Episcopal churches in Hartford, Connecticut, and St. Paul, Minnesota, as organist and director of music. For ten years he was director of music for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Duruflé's Childhood and Early Education
Life at the Cathedral Choir School
Lessons with Charles Tournemire
Lessons with Louis Vierne
The Conservatoire Student
Duruflé's Distinctions
The Contested Successions at Notre-Dame and Sainte Clotilde
Duruflé's Peforming Career
The Orchestral Musician
The Poulenc Organ Concerto
Professor of Harmony at the Paris Conservatoire
Marie-Madeleine Chevalier
Overview of Duruflé's Compositions
Duruflé's Compositions: Their Genesis and First Performance
Duruflé's Role in the Plainsong Revival
The Vichy Commissions
TheRequiem
The Musical History of Saint Étienne-du-Mont
The Organs at Saint Étienne-du-Mont
Duruflé as Organist and Teacher
Duruflé and Organ Design
The Church in Transition
The North American Tours
The Man Duruflé