Sur le nom d'Alain: Organ Music by Jehan Alain and Maurice Duruflé Matthew Martin

• Maurice Durufé (1902 - 1986): Suite, Op. 5:
• 1 Durufé: Suite, Op. 5: I. Prélude 08:09
• 2 Durufé: Suite, Op. 5: II. Sicilienne 06:41
• 3 Durufé: Suite, Op. 5: III. Toccata 08:09
• Jehan Alain (1911 - 1940): Intermezzo, JA 66:
• 4 Alain: Intermezzo, JA 66 05:19
• Variations sur Lucis Creator, JA 27:
• 5 Alain: Variations sur Lucis Creator, JA 27 04:34
• Suite, JA 82:
• 6 Alain: Suite, JA 82: I. Introduction et variations 07:45
• 7 Alain: Suite, JA 82: II. Scherzo 04:58
• 8 Alain: Suite, JA 82: III. Choral 04:32
• Aria, JA 138:
• 9 Alain: Aria, JA 138 06:24
• Maurice Durufé: Chant donné ‘Hommage à Jean Gallon’:
• 10 Durufé: Chant donné ‘Hommage à Jean Gallon’ 01:42
• Prélude et Fugue sur le nom d'Alain, Op. 7:
• 11 Durufé: Prélude et Fugue sur le nom d'Alain, Op. 7: I. Prélude 06:48
• 12 Durufé: Prélude et Fugue sur le nom d'Alain, Op. 7: II. Fugue 05:22
• Jehan Alain: Litanies, JA 119:
• 13 Alain: Litanies, JA 119 04:45
• Total Runtime 01:15:08

Info for Sur le nom d'Alain: Organ Music by Jehan Alain and Maurice Duruflé

For his debut recording with Ad Fontes, Matthew Martin has brought together a recital showcasing two of the greatest organist-composers of twentieth century France. Duruflé, a notorious perfectionist, looked to his profound faith and the great lineage of French composers–Debussy, Dukas, Fauré and Ravel–for inspiration. Alain, an ardent voice in the avant-garde, developed his own distinctive language before his tragic death in 1940, aged just 29. This prompted Duruflé to compose a prelude and fugue, a la mémoire de Jehan Alain, mort pour la France, in tribute to his friend. Having spent much of his own life immersed in Gregorian chant–also a palpable influence on the music of this commemorative pairing–Matthew Martin was himself a pupil of the late Marie-Claire Alain in Paris, which provided rare insights into her brother’s music. The lively voicing and colour of the Ruffatti organ of Buckfast Abbey provides the ideal vehicle for this programme, expertly captured in a building which lives and breathes the music.

Matthew Martin, organ

Matthew Martin
is Precentor and Director of College Music at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, and studied at Oxford University and The Royal Academy of Music. He has been commissioned by The Tallis Scholars, the choirs of Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral, The Gabrieli Consort and The Sixteen, and won the Liturgical category in the 2013 British Composer Awards. Recent projects include a festival anthem (In the midst of thy Temple) for the choir of Westminster Abbey, marking the 750th anniversary of its refounding, and a test piece (Triptych) for the 2019 St Albans International Organ Competition.

Matthew Martin was born in 1976 and read music at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was organ scholar. After graduating in 1997, he went on to the Royal Academy of Music, London as a post-graduate student winning all the major organ prizes, and subsequently continued his studies in Paris with Marie-Claire Alain. He was recently elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music and is currently a teacher in keyboard skills and organ improvisation there.

In 2000 Matthew was appointed Organist and Choirmaster at the University Church of St Mary the Virgin and Assistant Organist at New College, Oxford before moving to Canterbury Cathedral in 2002 where he played for the enthronement of Dr Rowan Williams as Archbishop. Since 2004 he has been Assistant Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral. In addition to daily work with the cathedral choir, he organizes and gives many of the cathedral’s organ recitals. These recently included performances of the complete organ works of Jehan Alain over five concerts and Messiaen’s Messe de la Pentecôte and La Nativité du Seigneur.

As well as his busy schedule as a recitalist and director, Matthew is in increasing demand as a composer and his music is widely performed both in this country and further afield. Recent commissions have come from The Cardinall’s Musick, the choirs of Westminster Abbey and St Paul’s Cathedral, as well as a Mass to celebrate the Feast of the Dedication of Westminster Cathedral. Each year during August, Matthew directs the Nave Choir of boys and men as part of the Edington Festival of Music within the Liturgy.

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