Dies Irae

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For the black metal band Dies Irae, see Dies Irae (Romanian band).

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Dies Irae ("Day of Wrath") is a famous thirteenth century Latin hymn thought to be written by Thomas of Celano. It is often judged to be the best medieval Latin poem, differing from classical Latin by its accentual (non-quantitative) stress and its rhymed lines. The meter is trochaic. The poem describes the day of judgment, the last trumpet summoning souls before the throne of God, where the saved will be delivered and the unsaved cast into eternal flames. The hymn was used as a sequence in the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass until the 1970 revision of the Roman Missal.

Contents 1 Use in the Catholic liturgy 2 The Poem 3 Inspiration and other translations 4 Manuscript sources 5 Musical settings 6 References in popular culture 7 Notes and references 8 External links

[edit] Use in the Catholic liturgy

Those familiar with musical settings of the Requiem Mass—such as those by Mozart or Verdi—will be aware of the important place of the Dies Iræ in the liturgy. Nevertheless it fell foul of the preferences of the "Consilium for the Implementation of the Constitution on the Liturgy"—the Vatican body charged with implementing (and indeed drafting) the reforms to the Catholic Liturgy ordered by the Second Vatican Council. The architect of these reforms, Archbishop Annibale Bugnini, explains the mind of the members of the Consilium:

[T]hey got rid of texts that smacked of a negative spirituality inherited from the Middle Ages. Thus they removed such familiar and even beloved texts as the Libera me, Domine, the Dies Iræ, and others that overemphasized judgment, fear, and despair. These they replaced with texts urging Christian hope and giving more effective expression to faith in the resurrection.^[1]

It remained as the sequence for the Requiem Mass in the Roman Missal of 1962 (the last edition before the Second Vatican Council) and so is still heard in churches where the traditional liturgy is celebrated.

Archbishop Bugnini may be reading too much into it, as the Sequence (an official part of a traditional High Mass) has been eliminated from all but a few major feasts, most notably Easter Sunday. After all, the "Dies Irae" is still suggested in the Liturgy of the Hours as the opening hymn for the Office of the Dead (divided into three parts), and especially for All Souls. Since it is a hymn about the Second Coming, it is also appropriate for the Feast of Christ the King and the first few weeks of Advent ^[2]

[edit] The Poem

The text as it is printed in the Order of Mass for the Dead in the 1962 Roman Missal, is as follows. The English translation attempts to preserve the trochaic meter of the Latin for the first four stanzas, in a style appropriate for the program for a performance. Later stanzas are translated more literally.^[3]

The poem appears complete as it stands at this point. Some scholars question whether the remainder is an addition made in order to suit the great poem for liturgical use, for the last stanzas discard the consistent scheme of triple rhymes in favor of rhymed couplets, while the last two lines abandon rhyme for assonance and are, moreover, catalectic:

In 1970 the Dies Iræ was removed from the Missal and since 1971 it is proposed ad libitum as a hymn for the Liturgy of the Hours at the Office of Readings, Lauds and Vespers. For this purpose stanza 19 was deleted and the poem divided into three sections: 1-6 (for the Office of Readings), 7-12 (for Lauds) and 13-18 (for Vespers. In addition "Qui Mariam" in stanza 13 was replaced by "Peccatricem" so that that line would now mean "You who forgave the sinful woman". This is due to modern hesitation to identify Mary Magdalen with the Woman Caught in Adultery (John 7:53-8:11) or the woman who anointed Jesus' feet at Bethany as recorded by Matthew (26:6) and Mark (14:3) - even though in the parallel passage in the Gospel of John (12:2-3) she is named Mary. In addition a doxology is given after stanzas 6,12 and 18^[4]:

[edit] Inspiration and other translations

The inspiration of the hymn seems to have come from the Vulgate translation of Zephaniah 1:15–16:

Dies iræ, dies illa, dies tribulationis et angustiæ, dies calamitatis et miseriæ, dies tenebrarum et caliginis, dies nebulæ et turbinis, dies tubæ et clangoris super civitates munitas et super angulos excelsos.

That day is a day of wrath, a day of tribulation and distress, a day of calamity and misery, a day of darkness and obscurity, a day of clouds and whirlwinds, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high bulwarks. (Douai Bible)

Other images come from Revelation 20:11–15 (the book from which the world will be judged), Matthew 25:31–46 (sheep and goats, right hand, contrast between the blessed and the accursed doomed to flames), 1 Thessalonians 4:16 (trumpet), 2 Peter 3:7 (heaven and earth burnt by fire), Luke 21:26–27 ("men fainting with fear ... they will see the Son of Man coming"), etc.

A number of English translations of the poem have been written and proposed for liturgical use. A Franciscan version can be read here. A very loose Protestant version was made by John Newton; it opens:

Day of judgment! Day of wonders!

Hark! the trumpet's awful sound,

Louder than a thousand thunders,

Shakes the vast creation round!

How the summons wilt the sinner's heart confound!

Another translation from 1848, entitled Day of Wrath, O Day of Mourning by William Irons, appears in many hymnals; the first two verses are:

Day of wrath, O day of mourning!

See fulfilled the prophet’s warning,

Heaven and earth in ashes burning.

Oh, what fear man's bosom rendeth

When from heav'n the Judge descendeth

On whose sentence all dependeth!

Jan Kasprowicz, a Polish poet, wrote a hymn entitled Dies irae which describes the Judgement day. The first six lines (two stanzas) follow the original hymn's meter and rhyme structure, and the first stanza translates to "The trumpet will cast a wondrous sound".

[edit] Manuscript sources

The oldest text of the sequence is found, with slight verbal variations, in a 13th century manuscript in the Biblioteca Nazionale at Naples. It is a Franciscan calendar missal that must date between 1253–1255 for it does not contain the name of Clare of Assisi, who was canonized in 1255, and whose name would have been inserted if the manuscript were of later date.

[edit] Musical settings

The hymn music, with the words of the first stanza, is provided here:

The words have often been set to music as part of the Requiem service, originally as a sombre plainchant. It also formed part of the traditional Catholic liturgy of All Souls Day. Music for the Requiem mass is composed by many composers, including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Giuseppe Verdi and Hector Berlioz.

The traditional Gregorian melody has also been quoted in a number of other classical compositions, among them:

• Charles-Valentin Alkan - Symphony for Solo Piano
• Hector Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique and Damnation of Faust
• Johannes Brahms - Klavierstuck op. 118/6
• Benjamin Britten - War Requiem
• George Crumb - Black Angels
• Luigi Dallapiccola - Canti di prigionia
• Michael Daugherty - "Red Cape Tango," fourth movement of his Metropolis Symphony and "Dead Elvis"
• Antonín Dvořák - Symphony #7, 1st mvmt
• Danny Elfman - Score for The Nightmare Before Christmas
• Leopold Godowsky - Piano Sonata in E Minor, Mvt. 5
• Elliot Goldenthal -Demolition Man
• Jerry Goldsmith - Scores for the Poltergeist film series
• Jerry Goldsmith - Scores for the The Omen series
• Charles Gounod - Quoted in Act IV of his opera Faust.
• Arthur Honegger - La Danse des Morts
• Aram Khatchaturian -Spartak
• Krzysztof Kicior - Visions réflexives
• Franz Liszt - Totentanz and Dante Symphony
• Charles Martin Loeffler - Several songs and first of Two Rhadpsodies for Oboe, Viola and Piano
• Gustav Mahler – Symphony No. 2, 1st and 5th movements
• Nikolai Medtner - Piano Quintet in C Major, Op. Posth.
• Modest Mussorgsky - Night on Bald Mountain and Songs and Dances of Death
• Nikolai Myaskovsky - Piano Sonata #2 and Symphony #6
• Carl Orff - Carmina Burana
• Sergei Rachmaninoff - Over one third of his works, including Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, The Isle of the Dead, throughout the Opus 45 Symphonic Dances, his three symphonies, Prelude in e minor, Op. 32#4, and The Bells
• Ottorino Respighi - Brazillian Impressions
• Camille Saint-Saëns - Danse Macabre, Requiem, and Symphony #3
• Alfred Schnittke - First Symphony, fourth movement
• Don Shirley -- Arrangement of Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies"
• Dmitri Shostakovich - Music for Hamlet and Symphony #14
• Stephen Sondheim - The main theme of Sweeney Todd
• Kaikhosru Sorabji - Cyclic Squence on Dies Irae and Variations and Triple Fugue on Dies Irae
• Richard Strauss - Tanz Der Sieben Schleier from from his opera Salome
• Igor Stravinsky - Rite of Spring (sacrifice intro)
• Peter Tchaikovsky - Manfred Symphony and Third Orchestral Suite
• Scott Walker - My Death from his first solo record, Scott
• Eugène Ysaÿe - Sonata No. 2 for Solo Violin

[edit] References in popular culture

• Dies Irae (live) is the title of an album by French rock band Noir Désir.

• In Disney's animated musical The Lion King, Dies Irae can be heard orchestrated into the soundtrack or in the movie when it shows the 'Shadow Lands.'

• In Ingmar Bergman's film The Seventh Seal, a group of flagellant monks can be heard chanting Dies Irae as they wander away from a plague-ridden village that they have just terrified by preaching about the imminent Apocalypse.

• The opening music to Stanley Kubrick's The Shining and also the Theme of Clockwork Orange, arranged by Wendy Carlos, is based upon the work.

• More modern renderings of both the Lacrimosa (the last 6 lines) and the body of the poem, appear in works such as Preisner's Requiem for my friend.

• Several verses of Dies Irae appear on the album V: The new mythology suite of the North American progressive power metal band Symphony X. Additionally, the band also quoted the melody in a section of "The Divine Wings of Tragedy", from the eponymous album.

• The Dies Irae is quoted in the song "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" from Stephen Sondheim's musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, as well as later on in the work, in a musical inversion. It is also quoted in "La Vie Boheme" in the musical Rent by Jonathan Larson. The first two verses of it are also used as the chorus in a song by Spanish power metal band Dark Moor, entitled "Dies Irae (Amadeus)".

• Verdi's version of 'Dies Irae' is part of the soundtrack to Evangelion: Death and Rebirth.

• 'Dies Irae' is referenced several times during the soundtrack to The Matrix series composed by Don Davis.

• In the movie Monty Python's Holy Grail several monks can be seen walking and singing the verses

Pie Jesu Domine

dona eis requiem...

following which, they proceed to strike themselves on the head with large pieces of wood, and repeat the verse.

• In the hit musical Rent Collins and Roger sing:

Dies irae dies illa

Kyrie eleison

Yitgadal v'yitkadash

during the song "La Vie Boheme" in the Life Cafe. (The second line is from the Kyrie, a key prayer in the Roman-Catholic mass. The final line is from the Jewish Mourner's Kaddish in Hebrew.)

• Is also used by George in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" by Edward Albee.
• In the movie X2: X-Men United an adaptation of Mozart's setting of Dies Irae is played during Nightcrawler's attack in the White House.
• In the King of Fighters series, it is Wolfgang Krauser's theme music.
• Dies Irae from Mozart's Requiem was also played during the Pixar short Jack-Jack Attack included on The Incredibles 2-Disc DVD.
• The first two lines of Dies Irae can also be found as the chorus of the German band Subway to Sally's song Tag der Rache (Day of the Revenge).
• The first line, Dies Irae, Dies Illa, is captioned under a drawing of The Crow in James O'Barr's graphic novel.
• Mozart's arrangement of Dies Irae serves as the background music for the official trailer of the Japanese horror film Battle Royale, while Verdi's interpretation of the hymn was used in the movie's opening scenes.
• The first few stanzas of Dies Irae are said in the opening song "The Bells of Notre Dame" from the Disney film The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
• The first few notes of Dies Irae are painted onto the walls of Erik's (the Phantom) underground home in Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera.
• The first two lines of Dies Irae are chanted at the end of "Far åt Helvete", the first track on Farsotstider, an album by Swedish Viking Metal band Thyrfing.
• The introduction cinematic to the PC and Xbox murder investigation adventure game Still Life follows the masked murderer as he disposes of his latest victim's body, while Mozart's Dies Irae plays in the background.
• In the anime Record of Lodoss War:Chronicles of the Heroic Knight, a chorus chanting the first two lines of Dies Irae can be heard; especially when Orson goes into a berserker frenzy.
• The Dies Irae can be heard in various themes in composer Danny Elfman's soundtrack to "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas."
• In the game PC game Starsiege, the name of the arc containing a seed of human survival to the stars, was named the Dies Irae.
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's version of Dies Irae is heavily featured in Onimusha 3: Demon Siege, mostly for the evil Genma Scientist Guildenstern.
• It appears in Fatal Fury 2 videogame as the background music of the last stage, placed in Germany, where the player must fight against the final boss, the sinister German tycoon Wolfgang Krauser (the stage also includes an orchestra, playing an instrumental version of Dies Irae). It also appears in Fatal Fury Special. It should be noted that Krauser's background music also includes Lacrimosa (which appears in Real Bout Fatal Fury 1 and 2).
• The song "Starless Aeon" by Swedish black metal band Dissection contains the chorus

Dies irae, dies illa

Solvet cosmos in favilla

Vocamus te Aeshma-Diva

• The 5th track ("Dies Irae") off the album "Unity" by German metal band Rage is an arrangement of the original melody and contains the chorus

Dies irae venit

Dies irae venit

Poena dei venit

Amen, amen

Poena dei venit

• San Francisco band Deerhoof open their album "Reveille" by paraphrasing the third and fourth stanzas of Dies Irae in the song "This Magnificent Bird Will Rise".
• In Molson's 2006 Rickard's Red beer commercial, the song was used and the lyrics were adapted to match that of describing the taste of the beer.
• It was used in Command & Conquer: Red Alert teaser.
• It is referenced in the movie Boondock Saints in the rear of an underground Mick artillery station.
• Luca Turilli
• In the song An Amen by Anorexia Nervosa
• Parts of this song form the themes in Heroes of Might and Magic V
• In the Horus Heresy novels, False Gods and The Galaxy in Flames, the Dies Irae is an Imperator Class Titan. Turning traitor during the events at Istvaan III, it is seen accompanying the Iron Warriors in the later Warhammer 40k novel, Storm of Iron
• Dies Irae from Karl Jenkins' Requiem is played in the 2006 Lynx advert.

[edit] Notes and references

1. ^ Annibale Bugnini, The Reform of the Liturgy : 1948–1975, (The Liturgical Press, 1990), Chap.46.II.1, p.773.
2. ^ Liturgia Horarum IV, (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2000), p.489.
3. ^ There are many alternative English translations on the Internet, such as this one, and on the full Requiem page.
4. ^ Liturgia Horarum IV, (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2000), p.489.

[edit] External links

• Dies Iræ in Latin at The Latin Library