In 1603, Tomás Luis de Victoria penned a Requiem Mass featuring traditional Gregorian chants from the Graduale Romanum. In 1947, Maurice Duruflé based a Requiem Mass on the same set of chants.→[More:]

Both are beautiful in their own way, with well-judged builds and tension, and haunting harmonies.

But it's especially interesting to compare how the two composers, three centuries separated, incorporate these chants into music that is very much of their own time.

The two opening movements from Victoria's Requiem:
Introit, Kyrie
And the corresponding movements from Duruflé's:
Introit, Kyrie

In particular, listen for the 'Requiem aeternam' melody at the start of both Introits, and the 'Te decet hymnus Deus in Sion' at 2:18 in the Victoria and at 1:27 in the Duruflé. In the Victoria, the chant is sung in isolation by the full choir, before they launch into unaccompanied Renaissance polyphony. In the Duruflé, each melody is sung by half the choir over a lush organ harmony.

Then, the 'Kyrie eleison' chant used in Victoria's Kyrie is given to each voice in turn in Duruflé's version. Even the organ plays it very subtly at a sixth of the speed starting at 0:30 (a very clever bit of musical trickery), and the whole thing gradually builds up to a glorious climax.

I confess I'm not sure if this kind of post is appropriate here, but I really wanted to share these. They're easily two of my favourite pieces of music, and I get a geeky thrill out of the connections they have, which I thought the crowd here might appreciate.