The opening notes of the medieval Dies irae, dies illa has been used frequently by composers to allude, seriously or jocularly, to death. Rachmaninoff was especially fascinated with the Dies Irae, especially its first seven notes, and employed the chant most consistently and most strikingly. Rachmaninoff achieves a subtle architecture in his Second Symphony largely through the cyclic use of the Dies Irae, which undergoes a variety of transformations in construction and mood. Musical examples are provided to illustrate Rubin's outline of the transformations.

Works: Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique (132); Khatchaturian: Symphony No. 2 (132); Liszt: Totentanz (132); Mahler: Symphony No. 2 (132); Miaskovsky: Symphony No. 6 (132); Rachmaninoff: Isle of the Dead (132), Piano Concerto No. 4 (132), Piano Sonata No. 1 (132), Piano Sonata No. 2 (133), Symphonic Dance No. 1 (133), Symphony No. 1 (132), Symphony No. 2 (133), Symphony No. 3 (133); Respighi: Brasilian Impressions (132); Saint-Saëns: Danse Macabre (132); Tchaikovsky: Orchestral Suite No. 3 (132).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Jean Pang