Dupré’s major choral works were both written in response to the ravages inflicted on the people of France by two World Wars. Declared unfit for military service in 1914 (as a result of childhood surgery on the collarbone), he worked in a military hospital for two years; after being relieved of his duties in 1916 he took refuge in composition, and the next year he had completed De Profundis, a large-scale setting of Psalm 130 dedicated to les soldats morts pour la patrie. By a strange coincidence this work is more-or-less contemporary with Lili Boulanger’s extraordinary setting (in French) of the same psalm, which has received several performances and recordings in recent years. Du fond de l’Abîme is conceived as a continuous symphonic poem, but Dupré’s personal vision of De Profundis led to nine separate, individually characterised movements - one for each of the eight verses of the psalm, with the addition of the traditional responsory from the requiem mass, "Requiem aeternam". The work is scored for soloists, chorus, orchestra and organ, but its rare performances have more often been given with the composer’s authorised accompaniment for organ solo, and in this form it remained one of his favourites among his own works; he heard it at his 85th birthday concert in Saint-Sulpice, and excerpts were also sung at his funeral a few weeks later.

De Profundis (Op. 17) contains:
01. De profundis clamavi 5:40
02. Fiant aures tua 4:29
03. Si iniquitates observaveris 2:50
04. Quia apud te propitatio est 4:49
05. Sustinuit anima mea 5:49
06. A custodia matutina usque ad noctem 5:25
07. Quia apud Dominum misericordia 5:33
08. Et ipse redimet Israël 3:55
09. Requiem aeternam 6:56


♫ 09. Requiem aeternam
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