"Dies irae, dies illa" from the original Gregorian chant, with three variations from animation, theatre, and film.
"This Easter egg of a melody has been used by multiple composers over the years as a musical shorthand, or word, for death, doom and gloom, the creeps."
— David W. Collins, The Soundtrack Show, "Doom and Gloom: Music has a word for 'Death'
"
"
When composers want to create the impression of impending death and doom in their score, they often quote or reference the first four to eight notes of Dies Irae, Dies Illa (the Gregorian chant, not the Mozart or Verdi versions). This Standard Snippet has been used across decades of scores ranging from Silent Movie soundtracks to modern media medleys, and in centuries of Classical Music compositions.
The four note phrase "dies irae" starts on one note (usually F), then half-step down, half-step up to the first note, one-and-a-half-steps down. The descending notes and minor key create a somber, ominous feel. It can be instrumental or vocal, with or without the Ominous Latin Chanting, but it always sounds like something isn't right.
Dies Irae, Dies Illa quotes and references can create a sad, gloomy, or dark atmosphere. Overt, bombastic quotes may signal that characters are in a life-or-death situation or reveal that someone has met their end. Subtle references may shift the key, change the timing, play it backwards, or bury the notes underneath a happy-seeming bright melody to hint at unseen danger. The four notes of "dies irae" are most frequently quoted, and are sometimes followed by "dies illa" to create an eight note quote. The use of Dies Irae, Dies Illa in the requiem mass for funerals gave it a lasting association with death, further cemented by repeated quotes throughout the centuries.
The Latin phrase "dies irae, dies illa" means "day of wrath and doom impending" in the Vatican-approved adaptation. literal The original Dies Irae, Dies Illa is a Gregorian chant about the Last Judgment set to the words of a 13th century Latin sequence. Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique version brought it to the forefront of musical thought and is what most later references are based on.
This trope is about using or deliberately referencing a specific melody which originated as a Gregorian chant. It is not about other works with "dies irae" in their titles or derived from the same Latin text sequence. This trope does not include Mozart and Verdi's compositions with the same name and text because they do not use the original melody. Similar tunes need evidence that the composers were intentionally inspired by the original Dies Irae, Dies Illa.
Subtrope of Standard Snippet and Mood Motif; may be used as a Leitmotif. Compare "Pachelbel's Canon" Progression and Also sprach Zarathustra. See also Chaos of the Bells, the core motif of which perfectly maps to the first four notes of "dies irae" in pitch (though not rhythm).
The Latin "dies" is two syllables and not to be confused with the single syllable English "dies," even though its use here is deadly. Also not to be confused with the Visual Novel Dies Irae.
Examples:
open/close all folders
Advertising
- The iconic "Monolith" Public Information Film from the UK's AIDS: Don't Die of Ignorance campaign features the Dies Irae leitmotif being played by a hammer and chisel carving a giant tombstone.
Anime
- Attack on Titan: Many of the opening themes (openings 1,2, 3, and 5) are based on the Dies Irae, with descending thirds and ascending seconds. As the series goes on and the themes switch from death and hell, to war and monstrosity, the Dies Irae is no longer in the openers.
- XL-TT, the theme when the Colossal Titan first shows up, uses the Dies Irae's lyrics to underscore the sheer terror that the Titans inspire.
- There is a clear Dies Irae in the Survey Corps theme, which probably helps remind the viewer that death for a Scout is always around the corner.
- "Secrets of the Shizuma Drive" from the soundtrack of the Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still OVA series is a completely new arrangement of Dies Irae by Masamichi Amano, but it quotes the original Gregorian chant right at the end (time 2:07).
- Hunter × Hunter 2011: The song "Riot" is heavily inspired by Dies Irae, and is first used as Chrollo Lucilfer's "requiem" for fallen Phantom Troupe member Uvogin, as the rest of the troupe begins their massacre at the auction house.
- Kill la Kill: Ragyo Kiryuin's theme, "Blumenkranz", begins with the first four notes of Dies Irae repeated over and over. It symbolizes her relentless cruelty, her divine aspirations, and the show becoming much darker in tone with her arrival.
Films — Animated
- Frozen: Films scored by Christophe Beck, songs by Robert and Kristen Anderson-Lopez.
- Frozen: At the very end of the reprise of "For the First Time in Forever", the four notes of dies irae can be heard both in the orchestral music and as a One-Woman Wail. This comes just after Elsa unwittingly strikes Anna in the heart with a blast of ice — an act that, as the characters will soon discover, risks deadly consequences.
- Frozen II: Four wordless notes of "dies irae" are a leitmotif throughout the film. Elsa is the only one who hears a mysterious voice singing the notes to her, hinting it could be a lure into danger or death. It's heard throughout "Into the Unknown" when she sings about her conflicted feelings and the temptation to follow the voice to learn truths about herself. It recurs in "Show Yourself" when she goes to Ahtohallan and joins in singing the notes back to the voice. When Elsa goes deeper into a cavern to gain further understanding of the voice and the past, she sees betrayal and death, and it's so cold that she's temporarily killed when she's frozen solid.
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney): Score by Alan Menken. The first eight notes of the Gregorian chant are heard on church bells after Quasimodo's mother is killed during the prologue; shortly afterward, the first four notes are heard on church bells again when Frollo denies any guilt in killing her. However, while the text of Dies Irae is heard throughout the film's score, these other instances are not set to the Gregorian chant melody and instead use original music inspired by Mozart's setting of the piece in his Requiem.
- KPop Demon Hunters: The soundtrack version of the Saja Boys' "Your Idol" samples a musical motif from dies irae as its opening, complete with a slow Ominous Latin Chanting hymn with backing vocals that repeatedly say "Pray for me now". Fittingly, the Saja Boys sing this at the concert where they plan to corrupt the fans. The hymn, however, is not directly copied, and the song instead translates to the following, with the part after “favilla” not being found in the original hymnnote :
Dies irae illa, vos solve in favillaTranslation
Maledictus erus, in flamas eternumTranslation - The LEGO Movie: Score by Mark Mothersbaugh. The four notes are used as a leitmotif for Big Bad Lord Business, including during his entrance in the prologue and shortly after he kills Vitruvius.
- The Lion King (1994): Score by Hans Zimmer. After Scar orders the hyenas to kill Simba, Simba tries to flee for his life, but immediately runs into a dead end. The brass section blasts the four notes of "dies irae" to indicate Simba is facing possible death. Much later, the eight notes of Dies Irae, Dies Illa are played quietly on high strings and repeated three times during the scene where Scar prods Simba to tell the lionesses who is responsible for Mufasa's death.
- My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: Scored by William Anderson.
- The first film: A soft singular dies irae plays when Princess Luna informs Twilight of the time limit she'll face in the other world before she could end up trapped there. Much later, the four notes play repeatedly at a fast pace as Princess Twilight and her friends chase after Snips and Snails, who have just abducted Spike and are taking him to Sunset Shimmer. (Ironically, it's then revealed Sunset had no intention of hurting Spike and was just using him as bait, releasing him upon request.) Dies irae plays shortly afterward when Sunset reminds Twilight that her window to return to Equestria is fading, in a callback to the earlier scene.
- Friendship Games: The four notes of dies irae are used several times throughout the film to represent Principal Cinch when she threatens to use her position to crush Twilight's dreams. They then play repeatedly as the newly transformed Midnight Sparkle begins tearing open holes in reality. Shortly afterwards, a gentle dies irae, dies illa plays as Sunset finds Twilight's dropped device, and again when Sunset is able to talk Twilight/Midnight down and Twilight accepts her offer of friendship.
- Legend of Everfree: The four notes play twice as Gloriosa Daisy reaches to grab the magical geodes that transform her into the villain Gaea Everfree.
- Forgotten Friendship: During the climax, the four notes dominate the score as Wallflower attempts to blast the main characters with the Memory Stone, only for Sunset to take the bullet and have her own memories violently extracted.
- The Nightmare Before Christmas: Dies Irae, Dies Illa is quoted and referenced throughout Danny Elfman's score, given that most of the inhabitants of Halloween Town are, well, dead and undead.
Erik Hare: The "Day of Wrath" was never more fun and uplifting!
- When Oogie Boogie realizes Sally used her "sexy" detached leg to distract him while freeing the kidnapped Santa Claus, Oogie Boogie's wrath is highlighted by the bombastic four-note "dies irae."
- "Jack's Lament" adapts the tune into a waltz as Jack sings about no longer taking pleasure in Halloween hijinks. With italics for the variations on dies irae:
Oh, some-where deep
in-side of these bones
an emp-ti-ness
be-gan to grow - "Sally's Song" inverts the reference to rise instead of fall as she despairs in song over her unspoken love for Jack.
- "Making Christmas," uses the Dies Irae melody to signal impending doom as the residents sing as they prepare to unleash a nightmarish version of Christmas.
- "Jack and Sally's Song," the Final Love Duet between Jack and Sally, has a six-note variation:
As a-ny-one could see
We're sim-ply meant to be - What makes the use of this trope even better in this particular film is that the four-note version of this motif is also the main motif of the Ukrainian Bell Carol: the perfect motivic choice for a movie that is equally Halloween- and Christmas-themed.
- Onward: Score by Jeff and Mychael Danna. The cassette Barley loads into his van as he prepares to sacrifice it starts out with an electric guitar rendition of dies irae.
- In The Princess and the Frog, the Villain Song ("Friends on the Other Side") gradually resolves into a jazzy version of dies irae as Dr. Facilier casts his spell and the visuals get increasingly psychedelic. It gets a reprise at the end after his talisman is broken and his "friends" come to collect their debt.
- The conquistador Hernan Córtez from The Road to El Dorado has Dies Irae as his Leitmotif to emphasise how much of an impending doom he is as he's approaching to attack El Dorado.
- Rock-A-Doodle: Songs by T.J. Kuenster. The song “Tweedle Le Dee”, sung by the Grand Duke of Owls and his minions as they celebrate the impending demise of the farm animals, uses a jaunty version of the four notes as its backing instrumental.
- Toy Story 1: Score by Randy Newman. Appears twice in Buzz Lightyear's introductory scene, first when he begins inspecting the seemingly empty room and again (at a faster pace) during his death-defying "flying" stunt.
- Transformers One: Scored by Brian Tyler. Appears during a pivotal Birth-Death Juxtaposition montage, as D-16 lifts up his defeated foe Sentinel Prime before tearing him in half, cementing his new identity as Megatron, while Orion Pax's lifeless body falls into the depths of Cybertron, to be reborn as Optimus Prime.
- Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl: Scored by Lorne Balfe and Julian Nott. The four notes are frequently quoted as a leitmotif for the villain Feathers McGraw and his machinations, alongside a few instances of his original leitmotif from The Wrong Trousers.
- Wish Dragon: Scored by Philip Klein. An extended version of dies irae (with the first two notes repeated) plays a few times as Pockets escapes with Long's teacup while Mr. Wang, whom he shoved off the scaffolding from a great height, lays dying.
- Wreck-It Ralph: Scored by Henry Jackman. As Ralph reaches the top of the tower in the game "Hero's Duty" to receive the Medal of Heroes, a triumphant fanfare begins playing with dies irae repeating underneath it, a reminder that Ralph is still surrounded by the eggs of vicious Cybugs, one of which he's about to step on...
- Zootopia 2: Michael Giacchino. When Pawbert storms off to the buried beacon, he goes through a frozen hedge maze and the dies irae motif plays as part of a larger Shout-Out to The Shining.
Films — Live-Action
- 10 Cloverfield Lane: Composer Bear McCreary opens the horror movie with an understated chunk of "dies irae," creating a deathly mood.
- Alien: Composed by Jerry Goldsmith. As the Nostromo lands on the mysterious planet (later named LV-426 in Aliens), dies irae can be heard repeatedly as the ship descends. In the official soundtrack release ("The Landing"), it's then played twice at a slower pace by horns. This foreshadows the planet's deadly nature as the source of the titular lifeform that ultimately kills numerous crew members and leads to the ship's destruction.
- Armageddon: Used as leitmotif for the asteroid itself whenever an establishing shot of it is featured; it's also implemented at the 2-minute mark of the track "Asteroid Chase / The Shuttle Crash", which in the movie marks the moment the main characters' ships emerge from the Moon's far side to a rear view of the big rock's trailing debris raining down on the satellite.
- Batman (Film Series):
- Batman (1989): Composed by Danny Elfman; a fast-paced repeating dies irae, dies illa makes up much of the backing of the track "Descent in Mystery," which plays as Batman drives Vicki through the dark woods and into the hidden Batcave, creating an unsettling atmosphere around the location.
- Batman Returns: Composed by Danny Elfman; the four notes make several appearances during the Red Triangle Gang's introductory attack, most prominently as a fire-breathing member in a devil costume torches a department store. It later appears when Selina is driving towards the tree-lighting ceremony to assist in the abduction and eventual murder of the Ice Princess, though she wasn't aware Penguin intended to kill her.
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind: In John Williams's score, "Dies irae" sounds when bright lights are seen clearly approaching the encampment to give the scene an eerie tension as people start screaming.
- Crimson Peak: A soft echoing use of Dies Irae, Dies Illa, which was originally a funeral requiem, plays in Fernando Velazquez's score beneath Edith discussing her mother's funeral.
- Dark Universe: The main theme for the planned franchise, composed by Danny Elfman, incorporates several dies iraes in the background.
- Demolition Man: The "Dies Irae" melody is prominently heard in the instrumental score to the opening scene and the climax, apparently to signal the start of scenes where lots of stuff blows up.
- Evil Dead 2: Scored by Joseph LoDuca. The four notes play repeatedly when Ash realizes his undead severed hand has escaped containment.
- Everest (2015): Forms the basis of the movie's main theme. First heard in "The Call", a long, backwards Dies Irae is played on cellos or solo female voice. It's kept light like a siren's call, but as a reminder that when the mountain calls, so to does death. "Chopper Rescue" has repeated statements of it as a helicopter pilot braves the thin high-altitude air in a desperate attempt to get Beck off the mountain
- Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning: Scored by Henry Manfredini. Dies irae is quoted during Tommy's nightmare of encountering Jason.
- The Grand Budapest Hotel: Scored by Alexandre Desplat. A drum-based dies irae is mixed in as Dmitri stalks Agatha down the halls of the hotel in the track "A Troops Barracks (Requiem for the Grand Budapest)."
- Groundhog Day: Scored by George Fenton. A somber variation plays as Phil (unsuccessfully) attempts to break the "Groundhog Day" Loop via suicide.
- Harry Potter:
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002): John Williams. Heard as Harry and Ron are desperately trying to escape the Forbidden Forest while Aragog's spider children are closing in on them.
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: John Williams. Heard as the adults in Hagrid's hut realize Buckbeak has escaped execution, and the executioner vents his rage on a pumpkin.
- The Hateful Eight: Ennio Morricone. Dies irae is a recurring motif throughout the film's score, reflecting its nature as a story about numerous killers trapped together.
- Home Alone 1: John Williams. As Kevin and his brother are watching Old Man Marley, who they think killed his family years ago, he looks up at them, and dies irae plays as they duck into hiding.
- Hot Fuzz: David Arnold. As the Black Cloak-garbed killer creeps along the top of the church and begins to dislodge part of the roof, dies illa, dies irae is used as Ominous Latin Chanting. It becomes more intense as the broken chunk plummets toward Tim Messenger, with the words twice forming the four notes, before cutting off as it crushes Messenger's head.
- Interstellar: Hans Zimmer. The four notes are very prominent in the score as Professor Brand passes away in the hospital bed, just after revealing the Horrible Truth that the mission he sent Cooper and co. on was never intended to save the people on Earth to Murph. They then become even more forceful as Murph sends the message informing the astronauts of the Professor's death, and accuses Amelia Brand of having known all along that they were leaving Earth's population to suffocate and starve to death. In addition, while the message plays, the astronauts are already leaving for Dr. Mann's planet; the music foreshadows the deadly trap that lays in store for them below.
- It's a Wonderful Life: Score by Dimitri Tiomkin. A quiet instrumental "dies irae" plays as George goes to the snowy bridge, preparing to throw himself off of it.
- Jaws 1: The iconic Threatening Shark motif by John Williams sometimes gains an additional note to become "dies irae," prominently heard in "The Pier Incident, usually when the shark is closing in on its intended victims. Death is coming.
- Ju-on: The main theme consists of the first several notes of Dies Irae, appropriate for a film about a vengeful ghost and her curse inflicted on those entering the house.
- Jurassic Park (1993): Score by John Williams. The cue "High Wire Stunts" has a repeated dies irae as Grant and the kids are scrambling over the perimeter fence just as Ellie starts powering them back up, nearly killing Tim as the power surge catches him still on the fence. And then Ellie finds herself confronting a Velociraptor. A similar repeated dies irae appears earlier in the film ("Incident on Isla Nublar") as Ellie and Muldoon arrive at the aftermath of the T. rex's attack on the tour vehicles, finding Gennaro's remains and a grievously injured Malcolm.
- The Lord of the Rings Film Trilogy and The Hobbit Film Trilogy: All scores by Howard Shore.
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring:
- "Dies irae" appears in the score as Bilbo's ring tempts him one last time before he leaves the Shire. It weighs heavily on him as he slowly tips his hand to let it fall to the floor, right after it has been made clear that there is something dangerous about it and it is likely the One Ring.
- Heard again as the Ringwraiths corner the hobbits at Weathertop.
- Also reoccurs as part of the motif for the forces of Isengard.
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: Heard as Gollum is leading Sam and Frodo up the cliffs near Minas Morgul and the armies of Mordor begin marching forth against Gondor.
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: A statement is heard during Balin's telling of the failed attempt to retake Moria, right as Azog the Defiler takes the head of Thrór. It's heard again as the company is before the Great Goblin and he mentions there's someone who would greatly desire Thorin's head.
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring:
- Marvel Cinematic Universe:
- Iron Man 3: Score: Brian Tyler.
- Dies Irae is heard as Happy Hogan is spying on one of the Mandarin's agents making a drop at the Chinese Theatre, right before there's a massive explosion that nearly kills him there.
- It appears again as Tony and Hardy are examining the site of the first EXTREMIS explosion, looking at the body shadows left on the walls.
- Avengers: Infinity War: Score: Alan Silvestri. As Thor is explaining to the Guardians of the Galaxy how many Stones Thanos has and where he needs to go for the rest of them. As he mentions the Soul Stone, dies irae plays as the camera cuts to Gamora, foreshadowing her death, sacrificed by Thanos to gain the Stone.
- The four dies irae notes are a prominent feature of Xu Wenwu's theme in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, composed by Joel P. West.
- Spider-Man: Composed by Michael Giacchino.
- Spider-Man: Homecoming: An inverted version of the four notes play in the background of Vulture's leitmotif as he reveals himself on the ferry and attacks the FBI agents.
- Spider-Man: No Way Home: The four notes play as bell chimes during the Green Goblin's apartment attack, which ultimately leads to Aunt May's death.
- Iron Man 3: Score: Brian Tyler.
- In the trailer for Alex Garland's Men, Harper's voice echoing through a tunnel is used to create the four notes of dies irae, which repeat through the rest of the trailer.
- Metropolis: Gottfried Huppertz's original score for the Silent Movie quotes Dies Irae in scenes associated with the Whore of Babylon and the Seven Deadly Sins. A daunting melody with a similar contour serves as the leitmotif of the spy sent by the master of Metropolis to have his son followed and reported on.
- Morbius: Score by Jon Ekstrand. The four notes of dies irae blare over the soundtrack as Morbius drinks red blood from a bag for the first time and simultaneously realizes that Milo has become a murderous vampire. They play again when the FBI raids Martine's apartment.
- My Bloody Valentine: Score by Paul Zaza. Appears as a theme for the killer, such as when the police receive a box containing a human heart from a victim.
- Nightmare Alley (2021): Composed by Nathan Johnson. The four notes of dies irae appear several times as a leitmotif for Lilith; they're especially prominent when she reveals the massive scar down her torso that she received from Grindle, playing several times consecutively.
- In Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Hans Zimmer uses the notes "dies irae" during the scene where the Spaniards arrive to the fountain of youth, shooting the British officer holding up the Union Jack dead.
- In the sequel Dead Men Tell No Tales, scored by Geoff Zanelli, it acts as the first part of undead Big Bad Salazar's Leitmotif.
- Psycho: Score by Bernard Herrmann. A repeating, backwards variation on dies irae plays as Marion is looking around her room in the Bates Motel, exploring the place where she will meet her end.
- William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet uses a variation of the melody in its opening theme, "O Verona." An early draft also used the actual "Dies irae" lyrics.
- Scream: The first four films were scored by Marco Beltrami, while the fifth was scored by Brian Tyler.
- Scream 3: A soft dies irae plays as Sidney enters the Stab 3 set modeled after her Woodsboro neighborhood, where the first film's murders took place.
- Scream 4: The first four notes are played repeatedly and loudly as Ghostface murders Olivia.
- Scream (2022): The four notes can be heard in the opening when Tara answers Ghostface's question on the actress who played Casey in Stab, referencing that Tara's about to take Casey's role in the story. Until she ends up surviving the attack, that is. It plays again when Wes is going about his routine to hint at Ghostface's possible presence. After a lengthy buildup, Ghostface indeed arrives and kills him.
- The Screaming Skull uses it as a Leitmotif for the villain.
- For the opening theme of The Shining, Stanley Kubrick hired Wendy Carlos to electronicize Hector Berlioz's "Dies irae" to set the grim mood of the film and foreshadow the doom to come. It gets an even darker reprise in the sequel, Doctor Sleep. Carlos had electronicized "Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary" for Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, incorporating dies irae.
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2: Score by Tom Holkenborg. The four notes are played as Robotnik devises a means to get himself back to Earth and continue his villainous scheme.
- Star Wars: Composer John Williams references Dies Irae, Dies Illa throughout his scores for the trilogy films, and non-trilogy film composers reference it as well.
- Attack of the Clones: Begins softly playing as Anakin admits to Padme that he slaughtered the Tusken raiders that kidnapped his mother, eventually morphing into "The Imperial March" and "The Emperor's Theme."
- Revenge of the Sith: Heard repeatedly during Anakin's Betrayal, the execution of Order 66 and the slaying of the Jedi. Also makes a notable appearance as Obi-Wan discovers the security hologram of Vader's murders the temple.
- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, scored by composer Michael Giacchino instead of Williams:
- "Jyn's Theme" is based on it, fitting for the daughter of the man who designed the Death Star.
- Very prominent throughout the score in general, including as the Death Star prepares to fire on Jedha ("Star-Dust") and as Jyn and Cassian climb upwards to retrieve the plans ("The Master Switch").
- Referenced in "Your Father Would Be Proud" after Jyn and Cassian have transmitted the Death Star plans to the Alliance and are watching the shock wave from the Death Star's superlaser strike bear down on them.
- "Jyn's Theme
- A New Hope:
- The song during the burning homestead cue, where Luke realizes his home is in danger, includes a subtle reversed repetition of "dies irae," followed by a pronounced brass statement as he sees his aunt and uncle's smoking skeletons.
- A subtle statement is heard as Grand Moff Tarkin interrogates Leia while aiming the Death Star's superlaser at her home planet Alderaan.
- The song during the burning homestead
- The Force Awakens:
- Rey's Theme incorporates it in the part played with chimes, along with additional allusions to The Imperial March and the Emperor's Theme.
- The scene where Rey calls the Skywalker lightsaber to her uses the same "burning homestead" cue as Luke discovering his home destroyed in A New Hope, with "dies irae" marking the moment she ignites the lightsaber.
- Rey's Theme
- Superman (1978): (John Williams) A backwards dies irae begins playing as Jor-El walks out of the Council after they reject his findings on Krypton's fate, thus dooming their people and their planet to destruction and death.
- The Car: Dies irae is used as the opening credits theme for the film as well as the Leitmotif of the titular Accursed Automobile.
- Us: Score by Michael Abels. The four notes play during The Reveal in the film's final flashback, as soft piano notes, as Adelaide's Tethered double disguises herself as her and assumes her life while the original Adelaide is left chained in her place, inadvertently setting the stage for the potentially apocalyptic events of the film. They play once more after the cut back to the present, as "Adelaide" looks at her son Jason, who appears to now know her secret.
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit: Score by Alan Silvestri. The four notes are played several times in succession, each time by a different instrument, as Judge Doom reinflates his newly exposed toon form, just before he then reveals his identity as the killer of Eddie’s brother and tries to murder Eddie too.
Live-Action TV
- Game of Thrones: Score by Ramin Djawadi. In the season 5 episode The Wars to Come, the "dies irae" plays beneath and foreshadows the result of Stannis's warning to Jon that if he can't convince Mance to bend knee to Stannis, he will have Mance burnt to death.
- The Good Place: Score by David Schwartz. Dies irae is quoted twice back-to-back to introduce Shawn.
- Goosebumps: Used as the Lord High Executioner's theme.
- Kung Fu (2021): Score by Sherri Chung. A recurring motif throughout the series, used to represent moments of danger and death.
- The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: The "dies irae" is heard in several sequences involving the Orcs or every time a bad event takes place, foreshadowing the looming evil in Middle-earth. The final episode of Season One reveals it has been Sauron's leitmotif the whole time once Galadriel discovers Halbrand was just an identity he took. Its meaning and usage is disccused here.
- The Mandalorian: Score by Ludwig Göransson. Plays at the end of Luke Skywalker's Big Damn Heroes entrance as he reveals his face.
- Marvel Cinematic Universe:
- Loki: Score by Natalie Holt. The four notes play in "Heart of the TVA" as Victor Timely suits up to step into the dangerous Temporal Loom in order to fix it. Shortly afterwards, once he enters the Loom, he's gruesomely spaghettified.
- She-Hulk: Attorney at Law: Score by Amie Doherty. The four notes are played in the season 1 finale when She-Hulk is wandering through Disney's corporate headquarters after shattering the fourth wall, emphasizing the alien nature of the "real" world.
- Agatha All Along: Songs by Robert and Kristen Anderson-Lopez. In the "sacred chant" version of "The Ballad of the Witches' Road", sung in the second episode, the lyrics form the four notes on several occasions, as befits a chant by a witch's coven; it serves to foreshadow the ominous, threatening nature of the path they're summoning.
- Masters of the Air: "I Can Fix It" (Blake Neely) uses a double-note variation of Dies Irae to underscore the scene where crew chief Ken Lemmons attempts to fix the engine of B-17 "Our Baby" while they're taxiing for takeoff. The double notes highlights the urgency of the situation while the Dies Irae highlights how crazy dangerous this is. In addition, that particular Fort will not return from this mission.
- The Orville: Score by Joel McNeely. In "Midnight Blue", the notes of dies irae play as Kelly and Bortus sneak inside the Moclan facility where Topa is being tortured.
- Our Great National Parks: Score by David Schweitzer. The four notes play several times in "Gunung Leuser, Indonesia" as a hammerhead worm sneaks up on a semi-slug, before subsequently attacking and devouring it.
- Squid Game has "Pink Soldiers," composed by 23 (Kim Sung-su), a recurring piece based on dies irae representing the faceless masked guards who administer "eliminations."
- Star Trek:
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
- In the episode "Ties of Blood and Water", scored by Jay Chattaway, dies irae plays over a montage of Kira Nerys watching over and gathering information from a slowly dying Tekeney Ghemor.
- In "The Changing Face of Evil", scored by Chattaway, dies irae plays twice as Dukat, in disguise as "Anjohl", brings Kai Winn more poisonous texts on the demonic Pah-wraiths.
- Star Trek: Voyager
- In the episode "Innocence", scored by Jay Chattaway, dies irae, dies illa can be heard when the children reveal to Tuvok they have been left on the moon to die.
- In the episode "Tuvix", also scored by Chattaway, dies irae can be heard several times as Janeway administers the radioactive isotope and separates the merged form of Tuvix back into Neelix and Tuvok — effectively killing Tuvix in the process, after he had insisted on his right to live and compared forcing the separation on him to murder.
- In the episode "Before and After", dies irae is heard several times as an effort to keep an unwillingly time-travelling Kes contained at one temporal point fails, and she fades away in front of Tom Paris's eyes.
- In "Scientific Method", dies irae plays as Seven of Nine first spots one of the invisible aliens aboard the ship, foreshadowing the deadly nature of the experiments said aliens are conducting on the crew.
- In "Survival Instinct", scored by Dennis McCarthy, dies irae plays multiple times, first as the three visitors to the ship attempt to inject Seven of Nine with nanoprobes, and again in the flashback scenes as Seven's drone self suffers an identity crisis.
- In "Unimatrix Zero, Part 2", scored by McCarthy, dies irae plays as the Borg-ified Janeway, B'Elanna, and Tuvok infiltrate the central plexus of the Borg ship, with Tuvok beginning to succumb to the influence of the Collective. It plays again when the Borg Queen overlooks Unimatrix Zero, as she plots to destroy its residents.
- Star Trek: Enterprise: In the episode "Fight or Flight", scored by Jay Chattaway, dies irae plays as Archer and the crew observe a ship they believe to have been attacked.
- In the Star Trek: Picard episode “Imposters”, scored by Stephen Barton and Frederik Wiedmann, the four notes of dies irae play multiple times as the Intrepid, now revealed to be controlled by the Changelings, prepares to turn its guns on the Titan.
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
- Stranger Things: Score by Michael Stein and Kyle Dixon.
- 3: Dies irae is quoted several times consecutively when the Mind Flayer's avatar approaches Eleven.
- 4: The four notes play repeatedly as bell chimes as the Orderly reveals himself as 001/Victor Creel's son and explains his reasons for murdering both his family and the children at the lab.
- The White Lotus: The Dies Irae is featured prominently in the opening title sequence of the first two seasons (Season One's "Aloha" and Season Two's "Renaissance") and is used as a recurring motif throughout the show. It fits neatly with the story of each season commencing with the discovery of a dead body and with the themes of desire, class, and sexual politics among the ultra wealthy and the lower class people who cater to their whims. Season Three's opening titles "Enlightenment" does not feature the Dies Irae, but the motif is still used throughout the season.
- Wild Palms: Quoted at the beginning of the main theme by Ryuichi Sakamoto.
Music
- In the intro of Bronski Beat's "Smalltown Boy," Jimmy Somerville sings a falsetto rendition of the first four notes.
- "Dead Elvis," a composition for solo bassoon (usually dressed as an Elvis Impersonator) and chamber ensemble, contains nods to "Dies Irae" as well as the King's hit "It's Now or Never."
- Guru Josh's Signature Song "Infinity" uses a variation of this melody for its main riff.
- Sergei Rachmaninoff was obsessed with the Dies Irae motif and worked it into many of his compositions, some of them related to death ("The Isle of the Dead") and others having nothing explicitly to do with it at all ("Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini," "Symphonic Dances").
- Hector Berlioz's "Dreams of a Witches' Sabbath", a rather sinister piece of music from his Symphonie Fantastique, features a prominent Dies Irae partway through. Berlioz originally scored the primary appearance of the Dies Irae theme for the serpentnote , though in the composer's time the part was reassigned to ophicleide and later bass tuba (which normally covers serpent and ophicleide parts in modern orchestras despite being a very different instrument from either). In his treatise on orchestration, Berlioz, while condemning the serpent's "essentially barbarous tone" as unsuitable for most Catholic sacred music, described its "cold and abominable howling" as uniquely appropriate for accompanying the Dies irae chant from the Mass for the Dead, whose words "breathe forth all the terrors of death and of the vengeance of a jealous God."
- DJ Miki's "Dance Più" features a One-Woman Wail of the dies irae melody.
- R.E.M.'s "Drive" uses the first four notes for its main guitar riff.
- Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's "Enola Gay" incorporates the first bar of Dies irae in its introductory organ riff, complementing the song's theme of impending doom by nuclear war.
- Ultravox's "Hymn" has a Dies irae backing synth ostinato during its verses and bridge.
Professional Wrestling
- The Death Riders, rather appropriately, use the Dies Irae as a common pre-theme sting for whatever member of the faction is making their entrance. For a cocky but dorky Heel such as, say, Ricochet in a rumble-style battle royale, hearing it understandably causes a Hell Is That Noise reaction.
Theatre
- Cesare - Il Creatore che ha distrutto has "Akogare no Dante", where the students of Sapienza University sing about how much they love Dante Alighieri. It expands through the song, but in the first line that Cesare sings, "Idai-na hito da, Dante" ("That grand person, Dante"), the "-na hito da" part is sung to "Dies Irai".
- Der Tod - literally Death - sings a lot of this in Elisabeth as he tries to seduce the protagonist (and her son). His entrance song is based on it, and at several times, he enters singing "Eli~sabeth" to these notes.
- Stephen Sondheim quotes the melody in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in the opening number "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" in the section "Swing your razor wide, Sweeney, hold it to the skies." It remains prevalent throughout the rest of the play. In fact, the only character with a leitmotif that does not contain a reference to the Dies Irae is Anthony Hope, because he is the only character with a leitmotif who neither kills nor is killed, or both, by the end.
- At the beginning of RENT's "La Vie Boheme," Mark's friends chant "Dies Irae" in the background while he stages a symbolic funeral for Bohemia as a response to Benny calling their culture dead.
Video Games
- Dante's Inferno: The opening by Garry Schyman references dies irae, complete with Ominous Latin Chanting, perfect for setting the mood for a journey through Hell.
- Dark Souls: Gravelord Nito's theme, by Motoi Sakuraba, has a recurring dies irae throughout it as he is a creature that is seemingly made out of corpses and has power over death.
- The theme song to Dead by Daylight consists mostly of intonations of "Dies Irae"; appropriate for a game celebrating slasher movies. This also means you end up with "Dies Irae" being remixed into various styles via the guest characters and their leitmotifs.
- "Dies Irae" basically serves as the Leitmotif of Wolfgang Krauser for each of his appearances in the Fatal Fury series (and carries over to his appearances in The King of Fighters). Considering he's a cultured nobleman who is often regarded in-universe as the world's most feared martial artist, it definitely suits the tone of fights with him.
- Final Fantasy IX: Can be heard in the music for Ipsen's castle, one of the deadlier dungeons in the game. The track is made even creepier by squeaky, octave-jumping woodwinds playing a variation of one of the game's major leitmotifs.
- Haven (2020) features Ominous Latin Chanting dies irae variations in "Kusa Makura" and "Nothing But Rust"; especially appropriate with the latter BGM playing in the game's Mordor region.
- Heroes of Might and Magic:
- Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Necropolis town theme includes a full musical quote of the chant, fitting for The Necrocracy.
- Heroes of Might and Magic V: The title theme uses opening lines of Dies Irae and the title theme builds upon those verses. The title screen shows a man fighting a demon, surrounded by corpses.
- Hollow Knight: Silksong: The four first notes of Dies Irae appear here and there in the soundtrack, in particular in the beginning of the title screen's theme, or at the very end of the first trailer. It is heard on ominous tolling bells whenever you activate one of the bell rooms in the first act.
- Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis uses "dies irae" in a couple places deep in Atlantis. It's first heard in an Atlantean tomb containing hideously deformed skeletons, and later when arriving to the godhood machine, hinting that it's actually a machine of death.
- The version of the I Was a Teenage Exocolonist theme that plays on the title screen has the first four notes of Dies Irae. It sets the melancholic and suspenseful feeling of leaving Earth for Vertumna and not knowing what dangers lie in the alien planet.
- Kirby Star Allies: The "Song of Supplication", the Three Mage-Sisters' leitmotif and battle music, begins with the first four notes of the Dies Irae in the melody. Fittingly, these characters turn out to be the priestesses of an Apocalypse Cult seeking to resurrect Void Termina, whose own theme "The Star-Conquering Traveller" is a much darker Boss Remix of this piece.
- Mass Effect 2: The appropriately-named "Suicide Mission begins with dies irae in long notes (two measures) as the team prepares for the culminative mission that may very well, depending on the choices you've made, end in some or even all of them not coming back.
- Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, scored by Michael Giacchino, uses an Uncommon Time variant of dies irae in its North Africa theme to invoke suspense during the stealth-based levels of the mission.
- Onimusha 3 Demons Siege, Guildenstern's Leitmotif and boss music is the Dies Irae, a bombastic and eerie latin chanting that underlines his status as bringer of death and doom, having used the Time Folder machine to allow the Genma to simultaneously wage war in both 2002 Paris and ancient Japan.
- At about the mid-point of scenarios in Panic! you might come across a series of 2001-style monoliths in various environments that act as something of a Warp Zone, sending you in between said environments along with multiple other new and old destinations. For whatever reason (possibly as an extra Shout-Out to Stanley Kubrick), these areas are scored with with an up-tempo version of Dies Irae.
- Persona: Heard in the vocals of The Poem For Everyone's Souls, the theme for the Velvet Room, a place where the personas are created and changed, which draws inspiration from Edgar Allen Poe's The Masque of the Red Death. Though the appearance and mechanics of the room change over the course of the series, death and doom are always somehow connected to it.
- Sam & Max: Freelance Police: In the 2nd game of the series, Dies Irae shows up in the track appropriately titled Fugue And Dies Iræ, which plays when the duo are exploring Hell.
- Tomb Raider III uses an ostinato comprised of the first four dies irae notes as a danger motif throughout its soundtrack.
- In Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished – Omen, the "Devil's Wind" music is a slightly altered version of the first bar of dies irae.
- Zombies Ate My Neighbors: Prominently heard in the soundtrack for this game about zombies.
Webcomics
- Actually forms an in-universe plot point in a Pibgorn storyline. The music forms the opening text of the novel The Borgia Cantus. When Pibgorn finally reads the book and sings the first two lines aloud, the vast numbers of demons Drusilla had trapped inside the book escape, threatening to cause The End of the World as We Know It.
Western Animation
- Arcane: Composed by Alexander Temple and Alex Seaver. The four notes are played in “The Boy Saviour” as Jinx arrives on the bridge after blowing up the blockade.
- Cat Burglar: Composed by Christopher Willis. In one potential ending, where Rowdy is sent to a Fire and Brimstone Hell, dies irae, dies illa plays as his soul plummets into the inferno.
- Family Guy: In the episode "It Takes a Village Idiot, and I Married One," after Stewie plays a poorly-written song Peter made on the piano and everyone laughed at it, an elderly Peter announces that it was God laughing, not Stewie. He dies of a heart attack as Dies Irae plays. (This was a parody of Amadeus.)
- Dies irae is a staple soundtrack of numerous Looney Tunes cartoons composed by Carl W. Stalling, Milt Franklyn and William Lava, used to represent danger, injury or death. The revival series Looney Tunes Cartoons, composed by Carl Johnson and Joshua Moshier, similarly uses the motif on a frequent basis.
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: Composed by William Anderson.
- The four notes appear in "Boast Busters" when Trixie first mentions the monstrous ursa major.
- In "The Crystal Empire -- Part 2," the four notes play as Twilight and Spike look down into Sombra's hidden staircase.
- Appears in both parts of "The Cutie Map" as a leitmotif for Starlight Glimmer after she's revealed as a villain.
- "A Hearth's Warming Tail" averts the "deathly" part of the trope by using a major-key version of the four dies irae notes as part of the musical base for the carol "Hearth's Warming Eve is Here Once Again."
- Played for Laughs in "The Gift of the Maud Pie," where it plays as Rarity experiences some mild Sanity Slippage watching Maud and Pinkie inspect each other's presents for a painfully long time. It later appears in a more serious context when Maud resolves to retrieve Pinkie's party cannon.
- In "The Parent Map," dies irae plays as Starlight and Sunburst discover the iron gate in front of Sire's Hollow, hinting at the unhappy changes since their last visit to the town.
- In "Molt Down," dies irae is heard when the roc releases Rarity and Zecora, sending them plummeting towards apparent doom.
- Appears in "What Lies Beneath" when the students enter the mysterious cave underneath the school, which winds up nearly trapping them.
- Ninjago: The four dies irae notes can be heard throughout the season 11 soundtrack around the Ice Emperor.
- The Road to El Dorado: Every time Hernan Cortes appears onscreen.
- The Simpsons:
- In the episode "Treehouse of Horror III," scored by Alf Clausen, the four notes play over the title card for the segment "Dial Z for Zombies".
- In the episode "Treehouse of Horror X," also scored by Clausen, an inverted version of the four dies irae notes are played as the Simpsons are stalked by the mysterious, hook-wielding figure who knows they ran over Flanders in the segment "I Know What You Diddily-Iddily-Did."
- Star Trek: Prodigy: Score by Nami Melamad. Used as a recurring theme for Ascencia, who not only acts as a direct threat to the crew of the Protostar, but kills the Diviner and activates the trap that causes Starfleet's ships to fire on each other, causing mass death.
- Thomas & Friends: The four notes play several times in "Slow Stephen" as the suspension bridge is collapsing.
- In Win or Lose, scored by Ramin Djawadi, "Dies Irae" is used as the Leitmotif for the PTA, and when you hear it, you better get the hell outta dodge.
"I'll chisel your gravestone! Sleep well!"