Dies Irae
  • Earl_GreyEarl_Grey
    Posts: 892
    I seem to recall reading somewhere on this forum or perhaps it was somewhere else a nice article discussing the Dies Irae which included a singable translation. I'm all for Latin and original language but I need to take the baby steps approach. I pieced together a singable English version of the Corpus Christi sequence which I have been using now for a few years, and have been thinking it would be nice to sing the Dies Irae as a choir piece perhaps during communion this November. Anyone know of a singable English Translation or even a performance score? Who knows, perhaps someone will hear it and actually request it for their funeral!
  • TCJ
    Posts: 977
    I think (but am not sure) the Adoremus hymnal has an English translation of it, but not the traditional chant melody.
  • ClemensRomanusClemensRomanus
    Posts: 1,023
    My first try at something like this, so go easy on me. Hope this works for you. The translation is from the 1965 Missal.
    Dies irae.pdf
    1M
    Thanked by 3Ben Earl_Grey Chrism
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,460
    I like it.... except for "s'pulchers." That was weird.
    Thanked by 1ClemensRomanus
  • Earl_GreyEarl_Grey
    Posts: 892
    Come to think of it, it may have been the Adoremus Hymnal where I saw it previously. Thanks for the above version as well. What program do you use to notate the numes?
  • ClemensRomanusClemensRomanus
    Posts: 1,023
    I used the illuminarepublications.com/gregorio website.

    Adam, thanks, I'll fix it.
    Thanked by 1Earl_Grey
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,003
    Perhaps "rock tombs"? A little alliteration with "ringeth" while also tying to "earth".
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,460
    rock tombs?
    eesh

    I would change:
    Through the earth's s'pulchers it ringeth
    to:
    Through earth's sepulchers it ringeth.

    No change in meaning or imagery, and the trochaic meter is preserved better than before.

  • ClemensRomanusClemensRomanus
    Posts: 1,023
    Yeah, I took out the word 'the' and it flows so much better. Thanks to all. I'll post the revised versioni later.
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,460
    Speaking of trochaic meter (my favorite meter), I will now waste all your time by posting a poem I wrote about trochaic meter...
    --------------------------------------

    Why do all these trochee poems
    feel so primal, taste like rhythm?
    Why the writer's forward motion
    to the meter, just as given?

    Poe and Henry (Hiawatha)
    Chug like drumbeats through their verses;
    And the Middle-Ages' Latin
    rhyming out in obscure curses.

    Not the I-amb do we hear there,
    not the subtle Shakespeare sonnet,
    Rather, banging forceful accent
    With percussive mouth-shapes on it.

    Rise, o trochee loving writers!
    Readers, rise in rapt attention,
    Heeding not the snobbish precepts
    English teachers deign to mention.

    ONE and TWO shall be our motto,
    ONE and TWO we read and write.
    Music of our mother language,
    nourishment in black and white.
    Thanked by 3DougS CHGiffen Chrism
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,460
    (Yes, you can sing it [except for the end] to the Dies Irae tune, if you're so inclined).
  • ClemensRomanusClemensRomanus
    Posts: 1,023
    Lol. Excellent.

    So, I re-checked the Missal and it seems the word 'the' is not there. Oops, my typo. thanks to all for catching it.
  • Adam Schwend
    Posts: 203
    Worth a reminder that the Dies Irae was moved to the Office for the Dead, rather than the Mass. So, unless it's going to be sung as a hymn, there really isn't any place for it in the funeral Mass. A sad reality, but a reality all the same.
  • BenBen
    Posts: 3,114
    You could always sing it as a prelude/postlude/motet!
  • ClemensRomanusClemensRomanus
    Posts: 1,023
    I'm usually such a stickler for rubrics, so I'm afraid to admit I sing the Tract and Dies Irae in Mass anyway. At least my priest allows it.
  • Adam Schwend
    Posts: 203
    I've done it too...but I always feel guilty about it. :-)
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,460
    >>I always feel guilty about it

    That's really the important thing.
    Thanked by 3Chrism Jenny Heath
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,003
    Adam

    Much better. I too like trochaic. I love metrical indexes that sort trochaic and iambic tunes.
Add a Comment