Dies Irae

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.

Dies Irae ("Day of Wrath") is also the name of a Black Metal band from Romania: www.diesirae.ro or www.myspace.com/diesiraeromania. Dies Irae's motto is: Modern Black Metal Reinvented. The band was formed in 1995 and is known as the best metal band in Romania.

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:

^*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.Annibale Bugnini, The Reform of the Liturgy : 1948-1975, (The Liturgical Press, 1990), Chap.46.II.1, p.773.

Nowadays the Dies Iræ is suggested for use in the Liturgy of the Hours during the last week of Ordinary Time, following the feast of Christ the King and immediately before Advent.Liturgia Horarum IV, (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2000), p.489.

The poem itself

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.There are many alternative English translations on the Internet, such as this one, and on the full Requiem page.

1 Dies iræ! dies illa
Solvet sæclum in favilla
Teste David cum Sibylla!

2 Quantus tremor est futurus,
quando judex est venturus,
cuncta stricte discussurus!

3 Tuba mirum spargens sonum
per sepulcra regionum,
coget omnes ante thronum.

4 Mors stupebit et natura,
cum resurget creatura,
judicanti responsura.

5 Liber scriptus proferetur,
in quo totum continetur,
unde mundus judicetur.

6 Judex ergo cum sedebit,
quidquid latet apparebit:
nil inultum remanebit.

7 Quid sum miser tunc dicturus?
Quem patronum rogaturus,
cum vix justus sit securus?

8 Rex tremendæ majestatis,
qui salvandos salvas gratis,
salva me, fons pietatis.

9 Recordare, Jesu pie,
quod sum causa tuæ viæ:
ne me perdas illa die.

10 Quærens me, sedisti lassus:
redemisti Crucem passus:
tantus labor non sit cassus.

11 Juste judex ultionis,
donum fac remissionis
ante diem rationis.

12 Ingemisco, tamquam reus:
culpa rubet vultus meus:
supplicanti parce, Deus.

13 Qui Mariam absolvisti,
et latronem exaudisti,
mihi quoque spem dedisti.

14 Preces meæ non sunt dignæ:
sed tu bonus fac benigne,
ne perenni cremer igne.

15 Inter oves locum præsta,
et ab hædis me sequestra,
statuens in parte dextra.

16 Confutatis maledictis,
flammis acribus addictis:
voca me cum benedictis.

17 Oro supplex et acclinis,
cor contritum quasi cinis:
gere curam mei finis.

1 Day of wrath and terror looming!
Heaven and earth to ash consuming,
David's word and Sibyl's truth foredooming! 2 What horror must invade the mind,
when the approaching judge shall find,
and sift the deeds of all mankind.

3 The trumpet casts a wondrous sound,
through the tombs of all around,
making them the throne surround.

4 Death is struck and nature quaking,
all creation is awaking,
to its judge an answer making.

5 The written book shall be brought forth,
in which is contained all
from which the world is to be judged.

6 So when the Judge shall sit,
whatever is hidden shall be seen,
nothing shall remain unpunished.

7 What am I, wretched one, to say,
What protector implore,
when (even) a just person will scarcely be confident?

8 King of awesome majesty,
you who save gratuitously those to be saved,
save me, fount of pity.

9 Remember, gracious Jesus,
that I am the cause of your journey;
do not let me be lost on that day.

10 Seeking me, you sat exhausted;
you redeemed me by undergoing the Cross;
let so much toil not be in vain.

11 Just judge of vengeance,
grant the gift of forgiveness,
before the day of reckoning'.

12 I groan, as one guilty;
my face is red with shame;
spare, O God, a supplicant.

13 You who forgave Mary ^*,
and heard the plea of the thief href="http://articles.gourt.com/en/Dismas">Dismas
have given hope to me also.

14 My prayers are unworthy;
but you, the Good, show me favour,
that I may not be consumed by eternal fire.

15 Grant me a place among the sheep,
and separate me from the goats,
placing me at your right hand.

16 When the accursed are silenced,
sentenced to piercing flames,
call me with the blessed.

17 Suppliant and bowing, I beg,
(my) heart contrite like ash:
Have a care for my end.

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:

18 Lacrimosa dies illa,
qua resurget ex favilla
judicandus homo reus.
Huic ergo parce, Deus:

19 pie Jesu Domine,
dona eis requiem. Amen.

18 Tearful that day,
on which will rise from ashes
guilty man for judgement.
So have mercy, O God, on this man.

19 Compassionate Lord Jesus,
grant them rest. Amen.

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 annointed 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 18Liturgia Horarum IV, (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2000), p.489.:

18 O tu, Deus maiestatis,
alme candor Trinitatis
nos coniunge cum beatis. Amen.

18 O God of majesty
nourishing light of the Trinity
join us with the blessed. Amen.

Inspiration and other translations

The inspiration of the hymn seems to have come from the Vulgate translation of Zephaniah I: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 trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. (KJV)

Other images come from Revelation 20:11-15 (the book from which the world will be judged), (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! ^*

Jan Kasprowicz, a Polish poet, wrote a hymn entitled Dies irae (text in Polish: ^*) which decribes 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".

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.

Musical settings

The words have often been set to music as part of the Requiem service, originally as a sombre plain chant. 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
Antonín Dvořák - ''Symphony #7, 1st mvmt
Daniel Elfman - Score for The Nightmare Before Christmas
Leopold Godowsky - Piano Sonata in E Minor, Mvt. 5
Jerry Goldsmith - Scores for the Poltergeist film series
Franz Liszt - Totentanz and Dante Symphony
Arthur Honegger - La Danse des Morts
Nikolai Medtner - Piano Quintet in C Major, Op. Posth.
Nikolai Myaskovsky - Piano Sonata #2 and Symphony #6
Modest Mussorgsky - Night on Bald Mountain and Songs and Dances of Death
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. 33#4', and The Bells''
Ottorino Respighi - Brazillian Impressions
Camille Saint-Saens - Danse Macabre, Requiem, and Symphony #3, 1st movt
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 - Till Eulenspiegel
Igor Stravinsky - Rite of Spring (sacrifice intro)
Peter Tchaikovsky - Manfred Symphony
Eugène Ysaÿe - Sonata No. 2 for Solo Violin
Scott Walker - My Death from his first solo record, Scott
Krzysztof Kicior's Visions réflexives and George Crumb's Black Angels.
as well as others.

The opening music to Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, arranged by Wendy Carlos, is based upon the work.

Dies Irae ("Day of Wrath") is also the name of a Black Metal band from Romania: www.diesirae.ro or www.myspace.com/diesiraeromania.

"Dies Irae" ("Day of Wrath") is the title of an instrumental song by Christian heavy metal band Believer. The song features an operatic rendition of the Dies Irae poem.

"Dies Irae" is the title of a song by Swedish black metal band Bathory, from the album Blood Fire Death.

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.

'Dies Irae' is also the subject of a concept album by Slovenian orchestrated progressive metal group Devil Doll in which a character describes the Day of Wrath as the world experiences it. The album, aptly-titled "Dies Irae", is all basically one song; however, it is split up into eighteen parts (or sixteen/seventeen, depending on the release edition). The album includes excerpts and quotes from the original Latin hymn as well as "The Fly Song (Night of the Hunter)" by Charles Laughton and Edgar Allan Poe's "The Conqueror Worm".

Several verses of Dies Irae appear on the album The New Mythology Suite of the North American progressive power metal band Symphony X.

The Dies Irae from the Roman Mass for the Dead 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)".

The third and fourth stanzas of the Dies Irae are reinterpreted by the San Francisco quartet Deerhoof in the song "This Magnificent Bird Will Rise", from the album Reveille.

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

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

References in popular culture

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.)

In the Broadway musical "Sweeney Todd," the Dies Irae is used as the main theme, but with different lyrics.
In the movie "The Shining" the Dies Irae plays during the opening scene following the car through the mountains
Is also used by George in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" by Edward Albee.
In Everquest II, it is a song played throughout several zones.
In the movie 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).
Dies Irae is played briefly, and even subtitled, during a scene in the episode called 'Killeroo', of the comedy program The Mighty Boosh, where the character Howard Moon has been knocked to the floor in a fight with a kangaroo.
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.
Kyrie eleison is repeated a few times in the song "The Bells of Notre Dame" from the Disney film The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Rex Tremendae is sung in Ace Combat 04, as the prelude to the final mission, Mission 18: Megalith.
In the Warhammer 40,000 novel Storm of Iron, the ancient Emperor-class Chaos Titan is named Dies Irae.
In " The New Batch" the first few notes of "Dies Irae" are incorporated into the score at the moment the Brain Gremlin dies.
In " Demon Siege", Guildenstern, the Genma scientist, features Dies Irae in his theme song 'Day of Anger'.
In the "Heroes Of Might And Magic V" computer game by Nival Interactive, the hymn can be heard while on the town screen of the Haven, one of the city types in the game.
In Vangelis' "1492 Conquest of Paradise", 6th song, "Deliverance". At the end of this song we can listen to the ECC Choir sing the first verses of "Dies Irae" with much presence.
This music also appear in a episode of the second season of 31 Minutos.
Swedish melodic death metal band use the first stanza of Dies Irae in the song "Starless AEon", from the album "Reinkaos" (2006)

Notes and references

External links

Dies Iræ in Latin at The Latin Library
Mozart's Dies Irae
www.diesirae.ro, Dies Irae - Modern Black Metal Reinvented

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