Dupré - Te lucis ante terminum from "Le Tombeau de Titelouze" Op. 38

Here we have another beautiful, not often heard, gem by one of my favorite composers, Mr. Marcel Dupré.

"Te lucis ante terminum" is the fifth piece in the collection of Sixteen Chorales otherwise known as Le Tombeau de Titelouze. Titelouze was born in Saint-Omer, France in 1563. In 1586 he was appointed organist of St. John in Rouen and appointed organist of the Cathedral in Rouen in 1588 where he was promoted a Canon. He died on October 25, 1633. He left only a few compositions. Two sets of Versets on 12 hymns and on a Magnificat in the 8 modes.

When Dupré visited Titelouze's grave he was inspired to write this collection based off of some of the same hymns Titelouze used as a tribute. Dupré himself writes in the cover of the book: "This Book, intended for students, includes 16 Chorales which are based on liturgical Hymns of which Titelouze has used eight. The Chorales which have been fingered succeed each other in a progressive order of difficulty..."

It's a shame this set of music isn't heard more often. His chorale on Ave Maris Stella (No. 11) and toccata on Placare Christe servulis (No. 16) are two of my other favorites, but I'm going to focus on Te lucis ante terminum because it is my favorite of all and the one I'm currently working on.

As the title says, this piece is meant to be played during the evening at Compline. Dupré does an outstanding job with this piece. (No surprise there) As you can see from the score the Cornet solos out the chant while the Salicional gives a beautiful and luscious harmony beneath. It is truly a moving a experience if you get an opportunity to play this piece in a resonant space in the evening. The atmosphere that this piece will create is just stunning. It was a true joy to learn. And in case you're interested here's the chant it's based off of below. It's on page 267 of the Liber Usualis. I'll also attach a recording.

Being that it is only number 5 in the collection out of 16, Dupré hasn't made it terribly difficult. The solo in the right hand is never more than a single note at a time so it's very straightforward. Even the pedal is pretty simple, especially at the slow tempo. The biggest challenge is the left hand. And thank God, Dupré has give us fingering for each and every note. It's a true blessing. It makes it a lot easier. Even with that though, the substitution and fingers crossing over one another is a bit tricky, but ends up fitting nicely under the hands with a little bit of practice. If someone is looking for some relatively easy Dupré to play, but wants something with a little more substance than his 79 chorale preludes, I would recommend this. 

As for a recording, this is also on John Scott's two disk set of Dupré organ music which I mentioned in an early post on Dupré's Deux Esquisses. It is a beautiful interpretation. However, it's not on YouTube, so I'll post my own below. I hope you enjoy it and that someone takes the time to learn this piece.

Also, the score. It used to be printed by H.W. Gray with the English translations of the Latin hymn texts in it. That's the edition I posted above. Unfortunately, it is long out of print, but is still published by Alphonse Leduc (at a much higher price) and has French translations instead of English. I'll post a link below.

Le Tombeau de Titelouze

Yours in Music,

Jim