Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986) did not have a large output of music: three choral works and a handful of organ and orchestral pieces. He wrote very slowly and subjected everthing to countless revisions. However, each of his works are masterpieces.

His "Prelude, Adagio et Choral varié sur le thème du "Veni Creator", Op. 4 highlights his long love for Gregorian chant, a love he shared with his teacher Charles Tounemire. As in all of his organ works, this piece makes extreme technical demands on the performer. The prelude, marked Allegro, ma non troppo consists of running triplets derived from the Veni creator melody. The orchestral flavor of this movement is derived from changes in manual and tone color. This leads into a brief Lento, quasi recitative which links the prelude to the Adagio. The texture is much more placid and chordal in this movement but the theme is still very clearly delineated. As the movement progresses, it becomes more agitated as layers are added to the registration. The movement closes with the full organ. A quick resolution leads to the final movement. This last movement consists of a theme and four variations based on the Veni creator melody. The variations are canonic in nature. The first variation pits a fragment of the melody in the soprano line against the full theme in the bass. The second variation, marked pianissimo, is a brief respite for the player (this section is for manuals only) before entering the third variation which is once again a canon between the soprano and bass voices. The final variation opens with a rapid figuration reminiscent of the first movement and ends with full organ.

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