Charles Tournemire is the dedicatee of Duruflé’s Scherzo, Op 2: ‘To my dear master Charles Tournemire in grateful homage.’ This work was written in 1926 and was subjected to some revision. It is in a similar compositional idiom to Tournemire’s own work. The opening material, characterized by its cross-rhythms, appears only briefly before the bright scherzo theme takes over. The initial material, which later undergoes development in a variety of keys and eventually concludes the music, is carefully contrasted with the vivace scherzo theme in a variety of ways.

from notes by William McVicker © 1990