Whats dies rae? I havent seen that mentioned in rwby or silksong but it has been a reely long time since i watched rwby and I havent beat silksong yet
Dies iræ is a fun little ditty that countless artists across countless genres and mediums have made reference to since the 1200s* (<- the actual date of inception of the Dies iræ is a heated topic of debate among historians. I have doubtless declared war in my ignorance by writing down this century instead of other academically agreed upon time periods.) In this context, I am referring to the musical motif of the Dies iræ as it has been popularized in modern media.
You can find this all out for yourself via some quick googling with the correct spelling, but Dies iræ literally means “Day of Wrath” in its origin Latin Gregorian chant; which is referring to the liturgical “day of judgment”. It mainly symbolizes Death! A funeral march! And the Apocalypse! The end of all things as we know it!!!
The melody itself is memetic and ticks like a clock! Some instances of the Dies iræ you’re likely to instantly recognize are:
Giuseppe Verdi - Requiem - Dies irae ->
Hector Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique - Dream Of A Witches Sabbath ->
Main Title Theme from The Shining ->
So, what’s it doing in my silly joke Venn diagram?
The Dies iræ is a prominent fixture in the Silksong soundtrack, but no one at Team Cherry is going to tell you that directly. Gotta have your ears peeled and be listening for it! [see clip at the start of this post ^ scroll back up I’ll wait]
This is just for fun (we have fun here!) but it’s pretty obvious to me Ruby Rose and Hornet Silksong are inseparably linked to death as characters within their own stories. And I just think they’re neat! Silver eyes, my white whale. Ouuughh Elegy of the Deep.
You can find an illustrative breakdown of the Dies iræ’s pervading presence in the Silksong Soundtrack on YouTube here.
The Dies iræ is also present in the RWBY soundtrack + score. Changyuraptor has hundreds of deep dives into RWBY leitmotifs and musical theming on YouTube here. +Fun supplemental video about the RWBY score by Smaller Soul:
The Dies iræ is one of those omnipresent western cultural touchstones that shifts your awareness once learned. Once you’re able to identify it, you’ll hear it everywhere in media. The Godzilla franchise has some of my favorite uses of the Dies iræ.
