Dies Irae

[dee-eys eer-ey]

noun

1. a Latin hymn on the Day of Judgment, commonly sung in a Requiem Mass.

Dies Irae

/ ˈdiːeɪz ˈɪəraɪ /

noun

1. Christianity a famous Latin hymn of the 13th century, describing the Last Judgment. It is used in the Mass for the dead

2. a musical setting of this hymn, usually part of a setting of the Requiem

Word History and Origins

Origin of Dies Irae¹

literally: day of wrath

Example Sentences

With its truncheonlike guitar riff and haunting aura that called to mind a rock ’n’ roll “Dies Irae,” the song is considered a progenitor of heavy metal and encapsulated Mr. Ingle’s ambition at the time:

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Then we get to the third movement, which puts the Dies Irae melody against a nod to the Resurrection in Rachmaninoff’s “All-Night Vigil.”

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The Philadelphians were practically feline in the iridescent orchestration of the grim Dies Irae’s appearance in the “Rhapsody.”

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And in several places, his “Requiem” emulates the intra-movement structures of Verdi’s: The “Introit,” with its glowing a cappella choral passages, and the shock of the “Dies Irae” each feel familiar in form.

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With its ingenious recastings of Russian Orthodox chants and the Catholic “Dies Irae,” this can be a grand, mesmerizingly intense score, a danse macabre written as World War II was underway.

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