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Originally Posted by Janszoon
These are perfect BD! I'll try and check out all of them. I think the Liszt one is my favorite. And you have me intrigued here—tell me more about the Dies Irae!
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The Dies Irae (Day of Wrath) is actually a hymn dating from the 13th century. The poem is a description of Judgment Day, where souls are summoned before God, with unsaved souls being eternally cast into Hell. It's actually used during the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass, and you will hear it in musical settings of the Requiem Mass, especially in Mozart's arrangement. The images throughout the hymn are derived from several books in the New Testament, and I think those are Matthew, Revelations, 1 Thessalonians, Luke, and 2 Peter, if I'm not mistaken.
There is a good Wikipedia article on the Dies Irae hymn, and it also lists some musical settings as well as literary uses of the poem.
Dies Irae - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I'm glad to have been of help to you in finding those pieces! I also love Totentanz, and the Rachmaninov. If you want the recording of the Rachmaninov, I suggest trying to find one done by Lang Lang. His live performances of the piece are amazing.