Hi Stephen,

 

Since the Requiem is accompanied by orchestra it will be very difficult to find a score with the accompaniment that is the choral reduction rather than an orchestral reduction.  Even if you buy just the "Chorus parts" it is unlikely that there will be a reduction.  Scores are rarely sympathetic to accompanists (I'm allowed to say that since I'm also an accompanist).

 

The next roadblock is open score reading.  This mostly depends on how skilled your accompanist is as a general pianist.  If they are and haven't played with a chorus before than there are some ways in which he or she can "cheat" while playing the score.  The accompanist plays what they can with regards to an open score reading.  Reading two lines is hard enough, but four is ridiculous!  Usually the outer lines are read with some random throw-ins of other lines.  That's one cheat.  The second cheat is to play block chords at the beginning of each measure (this can be done by having the pianist write the chord names in prior to rehearsals).  This won't be enough so the next step, after playing the blocked chords is to play the most problematic line in each measure.  Since this is Durufle that should be a very good way to cheat.  If it were Bach or Mozart, then it probably wouldn't.  It basicaly means homework for the accompanist.

 

The hardest part of accompaning this piece is the constant change of meter which can be a huge pitfall for the accompanist.  This can be cured by looking at the music with a cd.

 

I know this is not the answer you were looking for, but it's the best I have to offer.  

 

I hope this helps.  Best of luck!

 

Robert Valentine

This may not help at rehearsals,but the choir member can go to http://gasilvis.net/ and hear the parts played for five of the Durufle movements. This web site has hundreds of files for choral music.

Jerome Malek

Durand publishes the Durufle.  There's an organ score, which has a reduction of the orchestra parts and the vocal parts, and a choral score, which has only the choral parts, in open score, with no accompaniment of any kind.

 

In my experience, the real difficulty with rehearsing the Durufle is that the choir can't tell what's going on in the accompaniment if they're using the choral parts.  The organ score costs upwards of $30 apiece, making it prohibitively expensive for everyone to have one, which would be the best situation.

 

The Durufle is a wonderful work, but it is a challenge to rehearse because of the way the choral parts are printed.  I hope you can find a rehearsal accompanist who is capable of reducing the vocal parts more or less at sight (as you would have to do for any choral/orchestral work).  Since the organ score involves 3 lines already, anyone who can read that should be able to handle doubling the choral parts when the situation calls for it.

 

Good luck.  It's a very rewarding piece.

 

David Schildkret

Here's a possibility. Bring in another piano (perhaps even an electronic one). Have your accompanist play the soprano/alto lines while someone else (you, perhaps?) plays the bass and tenor. You might even have someone in the choir who would be willing to play the T/B parts.

 

Tony Cruz

I have to say that one of the things I value most in a good accompanist is not their ability to play all four parts at once, but their ability NOT to play anything unless it's needed. The ideal choral accompanist is my partner in the rehearsal, listening and bringing out the places that need help, but allowing the choir to think for themselves. Too many accompanists feel they need to play everything, all the time, loudly, in order to "help the choir".  Less is more, as far as I'm concerned!

Cyberbass has a tutti midi version of the Durufle requiem -- it is relatively easy to create a reduction from the 4/5 part score from the midi files.  For example Melody Assistant should do it for you and it is a relatively inexpensive program.

 

Chuck Jonah

Hi Stephen, I foresaw this problem in my choir, especially as hardly anyone knew the work and it's so intricate. I'm aware that this post is 2 years old, but for yourself and anyone else, if you have the space available, why not try sectional rehearsals? That's what we've been doing, with great success! I simply split men+women, the accompanist usually took the men. Our concert is on Nov 26th - wish us luck! James Pelham