Bass2 Ubi Caritas Durufle Score

Bass2 Choir Practice: "Ubi Caritas" is one of four motets from "Quatre Motets sur des Themes Gregoriens" composed in 1960 by Maurice Duruflé. The lyrics are based on a traditional hymn written as a Gregorian Chant. Maurice Duruflé's setting of "Ubi caritas et amor" (where charity and love prevails) translates the ethereal beauty of the original melody into a setting that speaks easily to our modern ears. "Ubi Caritas" was originally the final melody sung at mass on Holy Thursday during the washing of feet, an action that commemorated Jesus washing the feet of his disciples at the last supper. Its melody is among the oldest in the Gregorian repertory and its text may date to the days before the formalization of the Mass
Duruflé's "Ubi Caritas" is often lauded as one of the most, if not the most, perfect expressions of chant retold in 20th century language.