Threnody
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A threnody is a song or hymn of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person (synonyms include dirge, coronach, lament, elegy, and requiem). The term originates from the Greek word threnoidia, from threnos (lament) + oide (song). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European root wed- (to speak) that is also the forefather of such words as ode, tragedy, comedy, parody, melody, and rhapsody.
One recent example of a threnody is Krzysztof Penderecki's Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima; a classic jazz threnody is I Remember Clifford, written to honour the memory of Clifford Brown.
[edit] Cultural references
- Epitaphios Threnos is the lamentation chanted in the Eastern Orthodox Church on Holy Saturday.
- "Threnody" is the title of a famous poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson written in memory of his son, who had recently died.
- "Threnody for the Lost" by fictional poet Esmund Chadleigh is central to the story of the book "Murder in the Museum" by Simon Brett ISBN 0-7531-1923-4 Pub: May 2004
- Liszt's piano series Années de Pèlerinage includes two 'Thrénodies' set in the context of the Villa d'Este.
- The music of the opening credits of the movie X-Files: Fight the Future, though in no way reminiscent of an actual threnody, is entitled Threnody in X, possibly in reference to the X-files.
- Threnody is a character in the Xanth series of novels by Piers Anthony.
- Threnody is also a category of song that the Bard class can play in Final Fantasy XI.
- Another Threnody found in modern music is the song A Threnody For Modern Romance by the metalcore band It Dies Today. The song was off their 2004 album: The Caitliff Choir, and was featured in the movie, The Cave.
- Robert Fripp has a track on the Bridge Between (by the Robert Fripp String Quintet), called Threnody For Souls In Torment.
- Former ABBA member Anni-Frid Lyngstad, in her post-ABBA solo singing career, has also recorded a musical version of the Dorothy Parker poem "Threnody" which can be found on her 1982 album "Something's Going On". Anni-Frid has been quoted as describing the poem as something that has inspired her through tough times. The music was written by Roxette member Per Gessle.
- Michigan indie rock band Veronica Lake released a 7" entitled Threnody in 1993 on the Audrey's Diary label.
- The San Francisco duo Two Gallants recorded a song entitled Threnody In Minor B for their 2006 album What the Toll Tells on Saddle Creek Records.
- The post-rock band The Ascent of Everest have a song called A Threnody (For the Victims of November Second) on their debut album How Lonely Sits The City!. November second is the date of the 2004 United States Presidential Election when incumbent president, George W. Bush, defeated Democractic Presidential candidate John Kerry and his running mate John Edwards.
- A 2004 musical drama, Sandakan Threnody, dramatizes the suffering of Allied prisoners of war at Sandakan POW Camp, North Borneo, in 1942-45. The play was written by Australian composer Jonathan Mills, whose father survived a term of imprisonment at Sandakan, in 1942-43.
- Another reference to the term threnody is used in a MUD, or Multi-User Dungeon/Dimension, by the name of Avatar. When a player at the lord tier dies, a threnody dirge is initiated to return their corpse, and belongings, to them safely. This is not a real-life situation; this applies only to the game called Avatar, which can be found at http://www.outland.org or telnet://avatar.outland.org:3000 (non-commercial).
- Writer P. G. Wodehouse wrote a pastiche poem "Darkling: a Threnody" to highlight his contempt for modernistic styles of poetry.
- The last song from the 2007 album Theogonia by Greek black metal band Rotting Christ is called "Threnody".
