Scan 99
Groves Dictionary Of Music And Musicians,vol.2, 1906
31 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1DIESIS
3For further information as to the poem and its translations Julian's Dictionary of Hymnology should be consulted.
5The old ecclesiastical melody is a remarkably fine one, in modes I. and II. (Mixed Dorian) ranging throughout the entire extent of the combined scale, with the exception of the octave to the final. No record of its origin, or authorship, has been preserved; but we can scarcely doubt that, if not composed by Thomas de Celano himself, it was adapted to his verses at the time of their completion. The melody is not proper Sequence melody, but its structure is essentially different since it only extends over part of the prose, and is then repeated with a certain difference for the closing lines (see Sequence). The idea of it is evidently taken from the verse of the Respond 'Libera me Domine' used in the office of the dead, which runs thus:
7Dies illa, dies irae, cala-mi-ta-tis et mi ser-i-a-e.
9The polyphonic masters have generally in their Requiem Masses left the 'Dies irae' to be sung simply to its plain-song melody. It is employed, however, as the basis of the composition in not a few masses by composers of somewhat lower rank; as, for instance, in a Missa pro Defunctis, for 4 voices, by Giovanni Matteo Asola (Venice, 1586); in one for 8 voices, by Orazio Vecchi (Antwerp, 1612); in one for 4 voices, by Francesco Anerio; and in one for 4 voices, by Pitoni.
11With modern composers the 'Dies irae' has always been a popular subject; and more than one great master has adapted its verses to music of a broadly imaginative, if not a distinctly dramatic character. Among the most important settings of this class we may enumerate those by Colonna and Bassani, copies of which are to be found in the library of the R.C.M.; that in Mozart's Requiem; the two great settings by Cherubini; the first, in his Requiem in C minor, and the second, in that in D minor; the extraordinarily realistic settings in the Requiems of Berlioz, Verdi and Bruneau; as well as a not very interesting setting in Gounod's 'Mors et Vita.'
13W. S. R. and W. H. F.
15DIESIS, from the Greek δίεσις, which means division, and was the name given to quarter tones in their system. Aristotle takes it as the unit of musical tones, the last subdivision of intervals. In modern acoustics it means the interval which results from the two sounds which are arrived at by tuning up three perfect thirds and an octave, which is the same as the difference between a major or diatonic semitone, and a minor or chromatic semitone, the ratio of their vibrations being 125:128. It is commonly called the Enharmonic Diesis.
17C. H. H. P.
19DIETER, CHRISTIAN LUDWIG (b. Ludwigsburg, June 13, 1757; d. after 1815), studied at Karlsschule, Stuttgart, was chamber musician (violinist) in the court chapel there, 1781. He composed 11 or more Singspiele (ballad operas), symphonies, chamber music, concertos for various instruments, especially flute and bassoon. (Q.-L.)
21DIETRICH, ALBERT HERMANN (b. Golk, near Meissen, Aug. 28, 1829; d. Berlin, Nov. 20, 1908), was educated at the Gymnasium at Dresden, from 1842 onwards; he went to the University of Leipzig in 1847, having previously studied music with Julius Otto. At Leipzig his musical tuition from 1847-51 was in the hands of Rietz, Hauptmann and Moscheles.
23From 1851 he had the advantage of studying under Schumann at Düsseldorf until 1854. In the autumn of 1853 an incident occurred which brought Dietrich into collaboration with his master and Johannes Brahms. Joachim was coming to Düsseldorf to play at a concert on Oct. 27, and Schumann formed the plan of writing a joint violin sonata with the other two, by way of greeting. Dietrich's share was the opening allegro in A minor. (See SCHUMANN.) In 1854 his first symphony was given at Leipzig, and a year later he was appointed conductor of the subscription concerts at Bonn, becoming town Musikdirector in 1859. In 1861 he became Hofkapellmeister at Oldenburg. On his frequent visits to Leipzig, Cologne and elsewhere, he proved himself an excellent conductor and an earnest musician. He became a member of the Kgl. Akademie der Künste and in 1899 Kgl. Professor. He retired in 1890 and settled in Berlin. Among his works may be mentioned: one of two readings
24From 1851 he had the advantage of studying under Schumann at Düsseldorf until 1854. In the autumn of 1853 an incident occurred which brought Dietrich into collaboration with his master and Johannes Brahms. Joachim was coming to Düsseldorf to play at a concert on Oct. 27, and Schumann formed the plan of writing a joint violin sonata with the other two, by way of greeting. Dietrich's share was the opening allegro in A minor. (See SCHUMANN.) In 1854 his first symphony was given at Leipzig, and a year later he was appointed conductor of the subscription concerts at Bonn, becoming town Musikdirektor in 1859. In 1861 he became Hofkapellmeister at Oldenburg. On his frequent visits to Leipzig, Cologne and elsewhere, he proved himself an excellent conductor and an earnest musician. He became a member of the Kgl. Akademie der Künste and in 1899 Kgl. Professor. He retired in 1890 and settled in Berlin. Among his works may be mentioned: one of two readings
26An opera in three acts, 'Robin Hood,' performed with success at Frankfort in 1879; pieces for pianoforte, op. 2; songs, op. 10; a trio for piano and strings, op. 9; a symphony in D minor, op. 20; a concert overture, 'Normannenfahrt'; 'Morgenhymne'; 'Rheinmorgen'; and 'Altchristlicher Bittgesang'; works for choir and orchestra; concertstück for horn (op. 27), concertos for horn (op. 29), violin (op. 30) and violoncello (op. 32); a pianoforte sonata for four hands, etc.
28His incidental music to 'Cymbeline' was played in the Lyceum revival in 1896. In 1899 he published, in conjunction with J. V. Widmann, an interesting series of Erinnerungen an J. Brahms.
30DIETRICH, SIXT (b. Augsburg, between 1490 and 1492; d. St. Gall, Oct. 21, 1548), an excellent German composer. He was at the Freiburg University, and went in 1517 to Strassburg, becoming a schoolmaster in Constance in 1518. About 1535 he seems to have inherited some money, and to have renewed his own studies in music and other things, entering the university of Wittenberg in 1540. He returned to Constance, quitting it at the time of the attack of the Emperor Charles V., and dying two months afterwards. He published Epicedion Thomae Sporeri in 5 parts in 1534; a first book of Magnificats in 1535; 36 Antiphons, Witt. 1541; and 'Novum opus
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