Dies irae

(dē`ās ē`rā) [Lat.,=day of wrath], hymn of the Roman Catholic Church. A part of the Requiem Mass, it is a powerful description of the Judgment and a prayer to Jesus for mercy. Suggested in part by Zeph. 1.14–16, it was probably written by Thomas of Celano. In 16th-century polyphonic masses it was usually sung to the plain-song melody, but there are a few isolated examples of new music combined with the old melody in masses by minor composers. More recently, it has usually been supplied with new, and frequently intensely dramatic, music, notably by Mozart, Berlioz, and Verdi. It is no longer in general use in Roman Catholic funeral liturgy.

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The nine movements fall into two groups differentiated by harmonic language and gesture: Introitus (1) - Ave rerum corpus (3) - Agnus Dei (6) and Dies irae (2) - Rex tremendae (5) - Tuba mirum (7) - Lacrimosa (8), with the Lux aeterna (4) and Sanctus (9) inhabiting both worlds and acting as midpoint and apotheosis respectively.

Requiem: Neun geistliche Konzerte fur Klavier solo, konzertierende Trompete und grosses Kammerorchester (1990-92)

In compensation there are full-blooded episodes where sheer guts and colour convey the message: the apocalyptic Dies Irae, bass drum to the fore, the jubilant, shrilling Sanctus.

CULTURE: Passion, fervour, anguish and awe in the face of death; Choirs from around the West Midlands are combining for a performance of Verdi's Requiem at Symphony Hall next month. Christopher Morley looks at the background to this operatic religious masterpiece

Telling articulation from two timpanists dictated a steady March to the Scaffold, but non-funereal 'wedding bells' were far too cheery for the Dies Irae.

Culture: Not Fantastique enough

The composer gradually introduces the Dies Irae plainchant which appears in so much of his work, and this is not the only link with his last orchestral composition, the gripping Symphonic Dances.

Dances taken at too fast a gallop; CBSO Symphony Hall

He was accompanied by an orchestra with reduced strings, allowing more of Rachmaninov's intricate detail to tell - not least Andrew Barnell's deliciously lugubrious bassoon solo in one of these Dies Irae variations.

CULTURE: Beacons of light; CLASSICAL REVIEW CBSO Symphony Hall

Framing these pieces were two masterpieces from World War II, Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem somehow appropriately muffled in delivery, needing more weighty inexorability in the Lacrymosa and less unaccountable tonebending from wind solos in the Dies Irae, and Stravinsky's Symphony in Three Movements punchily rhythmic, but missing a touch of neo-classical lightness for contrast.

reviews

The recurring Dies Irae (Day of Wrath) sequence of his Requiem, which launched Sir Bryn Terfel's 10-day residency at the Philharmonic, must be a candidate for the most terrifying vocal whirlwind of all time.

REVIEW: MUSIC; ECHO CHOICE

Another source material is the Gregorian sequence Dies Irae (the interval range of the first and key melodic phrase of this sequence is, again, a fifth, i.

Miloslav Kabelac: symphonist

El Requiem, como misa catolica que es, esta dividido en ocho grandes partes: I) Introitus (coro y soprano); II) Kyrie (coro); III) Secuentia, dividida a su vez en seis partes: Dies Irae (coro), Tuba Mirum (Bajo, cuarteto y coro); Rex Tremendae (coro), Recordare (cuarteto), Confutatis (coro) y Lacrimosa (coro); IV) Ofertorium, en dos partes: Domine Jesu Christe (coro) y Hostias et Preces (coro); V) Sanctus (coro); VI Benedictus (cuarteto); VII Agnus Dei (coro); y VIII Communio (coro y soprano) que recoge la plegaria del inicio: Senor, dales el descanso eterno y que la luz perpetua los ilumine para toda la eternidad.

Mozart para todos, "Requiem" en el Parque

They will also team up with 400 other young people across the country to form a large choir to sing the Verdi requiem Dies Irae alongside the BBC Philharmonic and BBC Singers.

Kings and queens of the Proms

In The Mystery of Chopin's "Preludes ", Anatole Leikin argues that strewn among the rubble of all twenty-four ruins are recognizable fragments--musical fragments of the Dies Irae chant.

The Mystery of Chopin's Preludes

But the performance belonged to the choir, especially in its rendering of the Dies irae, the Rex tremendae and the Lacrimosa, which for many people is the emotional heart of the piece.

Haunting, heavenly sound of Mozart; REVIEW: Cantemus Chamber Choir, Dora Stoutzker Hall