Day of Wrath: Structural and Semantic Features of the Dies irae in the Music of John Williams

The Dies irae is a pervasive trope in film music, yet few composers have subjected it to transformations as intricate and imaginative as those found in the work of John Williams. This article examines the syntactic and semantic features of seven distinct Dies irae variants that appear in a number of Williams scores. These variants operate as complex signifiers that evoke a constellation of overlapping ideas—apocalypse, guilt, and punishment—all of which resonate with the original source: Thomas of Celano’s medieval hymn “Day of Wrath,” a vision of divine judgment at the end of time. Williams’ sophisticated deployment of the Dies irae exemplifies his multidimensional engagement with deeply embedded cultural codes in the service of musicodramatic narrative.