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Glite Dictionary
Dies Irae

Dies Irae

1 9.9
An old Latin hymn about the Last Judgment often used in funeral music
  • noun
  • /ˈdiːɛs ˈɪrə/
  • Literature
translation icon : Dies Irae
  • Play a recording of Franz Liszt's "Totentanz: Paraphrase of the Dies Irae."

Examples

  • Dies Irae is a Latin poem from the 13th century (possibly) written by Thomas of Celano.

    Blog text (27)

  • Here's a prompt for a list of composers who have used the plainchant melody, from Wikipedia's article on the Dies Irae.

    Blog text (27)

  • If I were in your presence, I would bet you, seriously, a million dollars that Berlioz did not compose the Dies Irae he used.

    Blog text (27)

  • "Like a living subwoofer, from deep within his thoracic cavity, AMD began humming a nearly subsonic version of the Dies Irae.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • During the funeral, the choir beautifully sang the Dies Irae, reminding everyone of the solemnity of the occasion.

  • The Dies Irae, a powerful hymn about the Last Judgment, has been set to music by many famous composers over the centuries.

  • Many classical pieces feature the Dies Irae melody as a motif, symbolizing death and judgment.

Surface Forms

Dies Irae singular
Dies Iraes plural

Morphology

Dies + Irae

The two constituents are Latin rather than English, but their literal gloss is 'day' + 'of wrath', so a learner who knew those words could infer a literal meaning. However, the expression functions as a fixed hymn title and cultural reference (the medieval Latin chant and its musical settings), which goes beyond simple compositional meaning and is not fully predictable from the parts.

Etymology

Dies Irae comes from the Latin words Dies meaning 'day' and Irae meaning 'wrath', and it is the opening line of an old Latin hymn about the 'Last Judgment'. Because the hymn pictures the end of the world, its short, sad tune was often used by composers to show death or doom, so today Dies Irae can mean the hymn or that musical theme.