Dies Irae: The death melody haunting Hollywood
How a four-note melody from the 13th century became a movie soundtrack superstar.
Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (podtrac.com) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.
Show Notes
For hundreds of years, composers have been using a specific four-note melody to evoke death. It's appeared in dozens of famous movies, and you probably never even realized it. But once you hear it, you'll start noticing it everywhere. Featuring musicologist Alex Ludwig and Strong Songs Host Kirk Hamilton.
Twenty Thousand Hertz is produced by Defacto Sound.
Subscribe on YouTube to see our video series.
If you know what this week's mystery sound is, tell us at mystery.20k.org.
Support the show and get ad-free episodes at 20k.org/plus.
Follow Dallas on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Join our community on Reddit.
Discover more at lexus.com/curiosity.
Check out Alex’s list of Dies Irae examples at alexludwig.net.
Subscribe to Strong Songs where ever you get your podcasts.
Check out The Graduale Project’s Youtube page for more Latin chants.
Episode transcript, music, and credits can be found here: https://www.20k.org/episodes/diesirae
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices