There’s a creepy musical sequence that crops up across history, in classical music, film scores, and even popular music. It’s called dies irae, which translates from Latin to “Day of Wrath,” and it was originally set to a melody as a Gregorian chant. Before that, it was merely a recitation used during Catholic funeral masses. So, how did it get to be featured in The Shining score, or Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven”?
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If you’ve ever seen a creepy horror-thriller movie, you’ve probably heard the dies irae at some point. It’s initially credited to composer Louis-Hector Berlioz in his Symphonie fantastique. Then, it was featured in pieces like Brahms’ Six Pieces for Piano, Chopin’s Prelude to Death, and Gustav Holst’s “Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age” from the Planets Symphony.
In popular culture, it has been used in many film scores like The Shining and its sequel Doctor Sleep, The Return of Dracula, and Citizen Kane. It was also used in The Mephisto Waltz from 1971, Jason and the Argonauts from 1963, and the Metropolis score from 1927. The sequence has also been used in several Disney movies, like “The Bells of Notre Dame” from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, “Into the Unknown” from Frozen II, and the song “Making Christmas” from The Nightmare Before Christmas. It was also the main theme for Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives from 1986.
Dies Irae in Popular Music, from Jethro Tull to Led Zeppelin
Modern music has also used this 13th-century melody to create a sense of foreboding and drama. Led Zeppelin used it in “Stairway to Heaven,” and Jethro Tull based the instrumental track “Elegy” from the album Stormwatch on the sequence.
Additionally, Kirk Hammet from Metallica used Dies Irae in a section of “The Incantation” from his 2022 EP Portals. It’s been used by Swedish metal band Bathory on their 1988 album Blood Fire Death, as well as by X Symphony. The New Jersey prog rock band used the sequence throughout their album V – The New Mythology Suite, notably on the track “A Fool’s Paradise.”
The dies irae has been around for a long time, and even if you don’t think you’ve heard it, you’ve probably heard it more than once. Take a listen and hear for yourself.
Featured Image by Laurance Ratner/WireImage
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