Why this creepy melody is in so many movies

[@Vox]

Correction: Mozart’s Requiem isn’t a symphony, it’s a requiem: a type of Catholic mass for the dead. It was initially written for mass but later popularized and performed outside the church, as was Verdi's.

[@Montcalf091]

Thanks for the correction

[@1dareu2mov3]

@Vox What about Verdi's Messa da Requiem?

[@Vox]

@@1dareu2mov3 same thing! edited the correction to reflect that.

[@thesenescentsunfish6185]

My band and I make music , we would appreciate if anyone listened

[@RandomStuff991]

Where can I find Prof. Ludwig’s written list?

[@jayclawwit6489]

Vox answers questions I don't ask myself but I'm kinda interested so, I'm here...

[@imjustabearwithinternetacc3656]

Bro no replied eek

[@caganeri]

Vox answers to questions I didn't know and only at 2 am.

[@michaeltaylor6765]

Aren't we all

[@dizzyfizzy4203]

And they take things out of context so I'm out!

[@jasmines_solace]

S a m e

[@johnchessant3012]

In Home Alone, the Dies Irae theme plays every time Kevin sees Old Man Marley. But when they meet at the church and Kevin finds out he's not a serial killer, the music switches to Carol of the Bells, which uses the same four notes!

[@madeniquevanwyk]

okay you've convinced me, time to watch it again

[@professorbaxtercarelessdre1075]

that is interesting

[@Islaras]

That's interesting indeed

[@kiana_bon_vivant]

i knew ittt omg i thought i remembered those notes playing in the first home alone movie

[@gaoelnlaojehc8913]

How in all possibilities someone out there knew something about this? Im totally confused.

[@Kriegter]

so this is what 'Play this song at my funeral' sounded like in middle ages

[@sankaranarayanan7847]

now its astronomia

[@cherylvijay6230]

Sankaranarayanan S. Ayyar yup😆

[@JeromeProductions]

Yepp

[@AlonsoQuijanoP]

no, this is more like "this is the song your are allowed to play at funerals"

[@Kriegter]

bruh 1.4k likes how

[@Spoomn]

This is actually used a lot in Squid Game as well. The "death" song that plays includes this sequence of notes.

[@Ambatukakangku]

Yeah, the "Pink Soldiers" track.

[@gettothepoint2707]

Yeah!

[@andy-gamer]

@Adolf Hitler i found out before the short

[@tomchch]

Is it actually?

[@lambrown608]

Who wants to be a Millionaire as well

[@javierhernandez1555]

Frozen’s 2 gets added as basically the plot progression.

[@imnty97]

Sure thing

[@calebjackson3895]

Why tf didn't they make the mother the villain?!? Even the leitmotif set it up perfectly!

[@aqua5459]

I see it as foreshadowing, that the "ah ah ah ah" calling Elsa is this tune, signifying that someone dead is probably calling her (i.e. Her mother)

[@GellertTV]

@@maya_yaser OH MY GOD AHHHHH

[@Bryangenn30]

im about to say this,, but yeah the Frozen 2 has this melody...

[@Blueeyesinthesky]

It’s used in Mulan too when the Huns are getting ready to strike

[@freakishlyfeline]

LET'S GO KICK SOME HUNNY BUNS! :p

[@MizzWGGrrrl]

Oooh, now I gotta re-watch "Mulan" for that reason! (But I'll take just about any reason to re-watch a favorite movie.)

[@christiang3576]

LETS GET DOWN TO BUSINESS, TO DEFEAT THE HUNS!

[@artsyebonyrose]

@@MizzWGGrrrl same dude haha

[@jessicazeller8060]

YAAAAAAAAS.

[@victoriajenkins1424]

*Death has it’s own theme music* That makes more sense than it should.

[@RobFeldkamp]

if anything, i guess death would. Study requiems...they are literally awesome. (edit: 1:53...nvm)

[@scratchpad7954]

Does this theme play when a certain S3XY wolf enters the room in The Last Wish?

[@an-animal-lover]

​@@scratchpad7954thar would be so freaking fitting if the case

[@Military.FutureUrbanCamo]

@@an-animal-lover dark

[@Alestrix76]

its != it's

[@serenitywingss]

the dies irae is also the Dead by Daylight main theme, as well as Frozen 2's Into The Unknown back vocal

[@Kudos_OG]

Yeah! And also the menu music for simulacra!

[@bravenkirok3142]

looks like i'm five months late noticing. I just posted about the DbD reference

[@DungeonTracks]

Well, not quite the dbd theme (due to the rhythms), but I'd still say it's close enough in overall form to count.

[@onsidedolphin5283]

yep just about to comment that

[@thisismyusernameidk]

making Christmas, making Christmas

[@eligil4629]

This is literally the ‘Siren call’ in frozen 2

[@jennamcguire6281]

i was wondering why it made me feel so sentimental. I had like a weird connection to it. wow

[@imnty97]

And that's why I'm here bruh

[@werewolf1806]

I told my wife about that. We went to see it yesterday and immediately, once the played for the first time, I remembered this video.

[@seangoh4337]

That is what I thought

[@gamingchamp6728]

Oh i juat realized

[@OnEwHoRiDesLinEs]

Vox knows how to construct an opener: “here’s four music notes that humans know mean death, and here’s why they mean death”

[@c0smoKram3r]

Stopped watching at 1:16 because that's all I needed!

[@JeromeProductions]

Indeed. (1000th like)

[@sofiacapella]

And now those four notes are also in Elsa's song Into the Unknown from Frozen 2. I bet those monks from the Middle Ages never imagined it.

[@randomgirlthatisadino3890]

@@c0smoKram3r I'm watching the whole thing because why not I want knowledge

[@SonofPerson]

Except this was stolen from another uploader.

[@leewolf6434]

Can we just appreciate that monks in the 13 century so perfectly captivated a mood that it’s still used to this day!!! Pure genius.

[@Bhatt_Hole]

Not everything is "genius", though that word sure does get thrown around a lot. Maybe it was genius. Or, not. Perhaps it's only because it was used so much, and in these specific ways, that we simply learned those associations. And had it been something very different they wrote, we'd have become conditioned to say/feel these same things about it which we are now saying about the Dies Irae. Why else would music in different cultures (especially those with a very different scale systems) arouse feelings and moods in the listeners from those countries which are not felt by us? Learned neurological hard-wiring beats the snot out of instinctual ones.

[@nickjackagliata8323]

We have learned to associate the melody through years of repeated use. So the monks had the least effect on its popularization. Every single person who decided to use the melody after had the collective goal of making it a strong association.

[@flaguser4196]

No.

[@nenabunena]

Lol anti Catholics can't even give Catholic monks their due.

[@racheldsouza8895]

​@@nenabunenaliterally was about to comment this. And dies irae is like a speck from the vast treasure Catholicism contributed over centuries.

[@peachy3153]

“Remember when Mufasa died?” *immediately shuts laptop and cries*

[@pauline1024]

peachy that was a tyrannicide.

[@andrewc1036]

Underrated

[@tinta2531]

😂😂

[@user-fo4ue9mo4z]

Why?

[@thomasraahauge5231]

Well, Simba got what he wanted, didn't he? Careful what you wish for, young lion.

[@jacobren9616]

Okay this is creepy In my choir class we are singing “making christmas” from nightmare before Christmas and it has these notes. My choir teacher JUST talked about this today what it says in this video and now I got home open KZbin and this is on my recommended

[@jonesboy332]

RUN!!! Jacob RUN!!!

[@crishealingvtuber8626]

it happens. i hate it

[@pxnkcowgirl1802]

ayeee we sang making christmas roo

[@clarity-re3mn]

So this is your fault

[@adelathesimpslyricvideocha217]

It's also in that other song where Jack has a mental breakdown

[@mollyrocksinmygreentea9829]

bruh time for my daily unnecessary knowledge

[@thomdotexe]

true, haven't learned anything useful or interesting in a vox earworm video since the giant steps one.

[@zoacynic1365]

Spot on.

[@saxyrep1]

It is useful here if you write music for TV or film. 😇

[@nickzardiashvili624]

Unnecessary knowledge is the best.

[@JLchevz]

haha

[@j-me79]

Regarding the minor key...years ago I was in a psychiatric ward for a time. There was a piano in the common area, and I played it often because we only had music during art therapy. Almost every song I know & love to play is in the minor key, and one of the other patients asked me why I didn't play many "happy" songs. I told him that if I tended towards happy songs I probably wouldn't be where I was right then.

[@duchi882]

*I actually never noticed the melody* Until I watched this video

[@AFFI909]

You would be surprised at what else we dont notice. Subliminals all over the place, and some truth mixed with lies

[@Super-qr7wm]

Exactly . Keyword -creepy . So now its suddenly creepy :)

[@matrixfull]

I actually never noticed that I am suppose to be creeped out by that melody lol.

[@tonywasikhongo7510]

I think I noticed it on a subconscious level

[@Super-qr7wm]

@@matrixfull word science my friend . Heres another one . Justice . Just-ice . Courts rooms take years while collecting your money with no results . So your case is JUST on ICE . Have a wonder-full day :)

[@VOLAIRE]

Pretty much the longest ongoing meme in music

[@banaway313]

I feel like ive seen you everywhere i go

[@shanettequao9043]

𝕍𝕆𝕃𝔸𝕀ℝ𝔼 yeah basically innit

[@sebastianszyperski1886]

This and the licc. But the licc is much much younger.

[@Inflake]

So true

[@augusto7681]

This isnt a meme. Maybe an easter egg

[@jfncho]

Dies irae: 2020's theme song.

[@BB-hx4mj]

Couldn’t agree more😂😂

[@desireedickson2057]

That's almost how my name is pronounced 🤔😬

[@meadowdream9144]

@@desireedickson2057 lol yes it does! Sorry I'm laughing with you...not at you.

[@shark7186]

lol

[@iealdb9415]

@@desireedickson2057 it does 😂😂😂

[@Albeit_Jordan]

0:29 If you move those notes down one to the key of C, you get the Disney channel four-note-mnemonic melody theme yes I did just come here from the defunctland video on alex lasarenko

[@BAMMiE21]

Wait.. isn’t that the “silent siren” from Frozen II?

[@welp4576]

Yes

[@welp4576]

randomgirlG it is!

[@meaganentriken7491]

Omg ur right

[@bee-po1mr]

*AHHH AHHH AHH AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH*

[@TommyElijahCabelloReal]

NO DON'T GIVE ME SPOILERS I HAVEN'T EVEN WATCHED ALL OF INFINITY WAR YET

[@deckarddwizardd1909]

I just realized this sounds like Frozen 2, the sound that makes Elsa anxious

[@fangirl_43]

Yes, the composers actually used the Dies Irae intentionally.

[@heyitsningning]

OMG

[@scratcher-chan3905]

Oh my god I know-

[@niiyubariiruhamusach.9102]

You're not alone, dude

[@skankhunt33]

the fact that's what she heard, it makes me believe that if anna hadnt found her she would've died.

[@niyaboyd3805]

I just realized something: In the Nightmare before Christmas, Jack sings a song called Jacks Lament. In the song, the start of the chorus, “Oh somewhere deep...” is the same four notes in this video. The whole movie is associated with death, so it was pretty genius on the composers side.

[@kjcorder]

That would be Danny Elfman who yes. Is a musical genius and I'm sure it was intentional

[@ghostboogie]

It is also in the fight with Jack and Oogie Boogie

[@jojogarcia8766]

Danny Elfman my dude is the best

[@Fact_core]

Pretty sure it’s In making Christmas also

[@gameygeemer4142]

Making Christmas is almost nothing but the Dies Irae

[@orangutan.manusiawan]

3:51 I like how "The Shining" is probably one of the scariest horro movies but then the intro looks like it was made from power point but still somehow managed to look menacing

[@Nakilon]

Saying that Shining is a horror film is just a meme that people keep repeating after each other in hope to get upvotes.

[@Mattstak]

@@Nakilonredditor spotted

[@leavingitblank9363]

@@Nakilon What do you call it? And what's your definition of a horror film.

[@rixx46]

So interesting, thanks. It’s the “Wilhelm Scream” of music 😵

[@Belioyt]

What's the 'Wilhelm Scream'?

[@EricJern77]

If you like immersion in movies, don't look it up.

[@mariaysuflor]

I literally heard it in my head as I read this comment 😂

[@macuare]

Kipruto Bett remember when that storm trooper fell? That was is the Wilber scream.

[@hw29472]

Nah that's ""the lick"

[@lewiscullen8236]

Mozart's Requiem is not a symphony called Requiem. The Requiem is a genre in itself with a set text taken from the Requiem Mass - the same text set by Verdi (and many others). Neither is it "outside the church" as it was first performed at the funeral service of his commissioner.

[@lewiscullen8236]

Thanks for the correction and thanks for the content!

[@derpina8330]

You forgot to fly away bruh

[@ConcietedMuchXD]

Vox stole this comment

[@kekus_blickus]

When you realize, that the Shining theme is in Star Wars: "Here's Johnny!" "Hello there"

[@YoniAndreiDDiego]

OMG THIS IS TOO ACCURATE

[@Stigmatix666]

"The Shining Theme" .. lol

[@Space_Potat]

Bartl Bricks “Put a smile on your face~”

[@lawlini1979]

Obi and r2 or obi and general grevous?

[@recht_voor_zijn_raap5506]

🤣🤣🤣

[@magicaltour1]

The opening notes of “Music of the Night” from “Phantom of the Opera” has those notes too. It works, since the Phantom has essentially brought Christine into the Underworld!

[@erynnoconnor3462]

So, it's the musical version of a 'Wilhelm scream', even if it's far older than the trope itself. Fascinating.

[@sofasniperman]

Haha

[@frightenedsoul]

Howie scream is better!

[@han-gyoulim6786]

The ballad of Sweeny Todd also has the Dies Irae motif.

[@IlaughedIcried]

OOH, the first four notes of "Swing your razor high, Sweeney" are that motif!!! You're right!

[@assydrefluxx9941]

Yeah, and Epiphany is based off the Dies Irae too. Sondheim is such a genius

[@ThomasGunnariRtting]

The first line in "not while I'm around" is actually the dies irae upside down (inverted), the whole score is based on the dies irae motif :D

[@stanconnorstan4266]

@@ThomasGunnariRtting which is why Sondheim is a genius composer

[@sxturnx_8767]

Stephen is a genius, I swear

[@TheGreatandAlmightyPoob]

absolutely NOBODY'S talking about how the melody is also in stairway to heaven?

[@bmoklsc]

Sung over the iconic guitar solo no less. Good catch.

[@lentzdadjentlaman1348]

Limelight really

[@tingtingshiny2877]

The manager of the beatles said all notes have been played, its all just rewritten and copied. He compiled a cd in the late 98/99? , with robin williams, sean connery etc singing beatle songs...hope that helps in finding his name.

[@Jonas-jr7oq]

@@tingtingshiny2877 It was their producer, George Martin. Their Manager died in 1967.

[@tingtingshiny2877]

@@Jonas-jr7oq thanks jonny, appreciate that, I was not a beatle fan, someone bought tht cd into our space...they bled beatle juice every where.... the best George of the group, their producer. His music discoveries had him recording the sound of water to the hidden sonics. The sound of water is a Gorgeous experience and off the charts of the deeps.

[@madrigal1956]

You can hear this melody in quite a lot of classical music works : Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, Rachmaninoff's Isle of the Dead and Paganini Rhapsody, Liszt's Totentanz, Saint-Saëns's Danse Macabre, among manyh others. It apperas also in Bergman's film "the seventh seal".

[@wcsxwcsx]

Those notes are the motif that permeates the entirety of Rachmaninoff's First Symphony.

[@tian9716]

Nobody: Vox: *spoils three of the most important movies ever in just 10 seconds*

[@gabrieljreed]

Lol I love this and I hate to be that guy, but Luke's aunt/uncle dying isn't a super big spoiler

[@icantthinkofanything798]

@@gabrieljreed technically it is, but it's one of those movies that's so insanely big that there's no way you haven't heard spoilers. I've not seen it's a wonderful life but I know the plot for that same reason.

[@j.a.weishaupt1748]

Tian Right Here That “nobody” part is completely unnecessary.

[@Alphae21]

Spoiler alert: grass is green 🙀🙀🙀

[@wilmerbz]

So, if you have not seen some of the most important movies ever, you might not even be interested, or you already saw them. They are very old, so... someone needs to catch up (not you, but whoever has not seen them)

[@christonchua5188]

Mozart's Requiem wasn't a symphony but a mass, even though it's impact still lives on to today.

[@razzmatazz1974]

a funeral mass

[@obviouslytwo4u]

What drugs are you on I will have double of what you're having

[@mermanhellville]

I wonder though, are we just "trained" to feel that way about minor keys or is there something more, say, biological/innate that makes us react this way to certain frequencies, and why have we evolved thus. Beside shady pseudoscientific reasoning, that is

[@fartkerson]

The question to every deep question is almost always "nature or nurture", isn't it?

[@arikalamari19]

not a remarkable question at all

[@Leonardo-G]

It might have to do with the simpler frequency ratios between the notes of a major chord. It has the frequency ratios of 4:5:6, while a minor chord has the ratios of 10:12:15, making it more unstable.

[@breakfree1967]

Thanks finally someone that thinks like me

[@pinkmagicali]

I always liked minor keys. They seem melancholy not depressing.

[@ecxoshard]

it's referenced in the song "Making Christmas" from Nightmare before Christmas, mostly the chorus.

[@oracle627]

Also a little park of jack’s lament

[@mayle2010]

People complain about sampling now, but it's been happening for literal centuries

[@victorhaaning]

Who complains about sampling?

[@cynthiavasquez4010]

Havnt seen anyone complain about sampling

[@monikyut]

@@victorhaaning there's a lot on twitter (overly devoted fans of some artists)

[@stevethepocket]

There have been literal lawsuits over songs sounding slightly similar to other ones lately. And I don't mean from the RIAA or record companies; this is artists suing each other. And _winning._ Katy Perry recently lost a suit to some rando on Soundcloud that she couldn't possibly have heard of. It's nuts.

[@cam-gv2gf]

@@stevethepocketlitigation by multimillionaire companies does not equal social and common-folk complaints about sampling.

[@mrbear1302]

too bad those monks didn't copyright their notes in the music!....lol

[@oRealAlieNo]

Wouldn't matter. Record companies these days are roofless....

[@moondust2365]

@@oRealAlieNo Plus the copyright would've expired by now. Plus copyright didn't exist back then...

[@snausages43]

It would have expired by now.

[@mrbear1302]

@@snausages43 seriously....it was a joke....duh.

[@moondust2365]

@BVBZ WENT WILD I know it's a joke. I just do the thing every time there's a joke that seems like an ignorant person commenting...

[@erin79]

I love Moe Zart, and Franz Linst, and Giuseppay Verday.

[@linablanco6853]

BaronVonComment underrated comment

[@thomasraahauge5231]

I love Buhh Liuhhz and Jo-huuun Sebastian I'll-be-Bachrr

[@andrepapillon]

Louis-Hector Berlioz ? To my knowledge he never used Louis.

[@yalltrippin1112]

Thank you for using the proper pronunciation

[@nivad75]

what, did they hire some kid from the local high school to narrate this?

[@thesterndragoon9159]

It's the core melody repeated over and over as a sort of musical score march in "Making Christmas" from The Nightmare Before Christmas. They actually manage to create a kind of inverse or bizarro "happy song" out of it because the monsters of Halloween Town are trying to 'benevolently' take over Christmas, but their actions foreshadow disaster because they don't understand it. It's an absolutely brilliant way of communicating that the monsters are inadvertently "killing Christmas".

[@jonathanmaybaum4167]

Yeah the second I heard the melody, that was the song that came right to mind!

[@judaronen]

@@jonathanmaybaum4167 Same here 💀

[@leavingitblank9363]

Everything about the movie is brilliant.

[@xXGrandclosingXx]

I just realized this "dies irae" theme is also used in Dead by Daylight's main theme! Wow.

[@Frank-mz3tt]

@@locrian1681 me too

[@aka_bowers2046]

Ahhh a person of culture, well played

[@xXGrandclosingXx]

@@aka_bowers2046 @locrian @Frank Haha thank you, thank you. Please remember to subscribe, SMASH the like button, and ring that bell - hashthag, NOTIFICATION SQUAD, let's GO! It's your boy, Grandclosing, giving you the freshest, hottest takes on Vox videos! ... I spend too much time on the internet.

[@justajobro1266]

It’s not death note too!

[@loganhowlett8723]

Thank god I’m not alone

[@mat2468xk]

"Alex Ludwig, a musicologist." Ludwig and musicologist are two words meant to be together in the same sentence, tbh.

[@agoogleuser8945]

Oh yeah! Like that one guy, what was it again? Ludwig van Amadeus Mozart? Sounds about right.

[@mat2468xk]

@@aliduamni4570 Unfortunately, yes.

[@TheStillChillMimikyuOfficial]

@@agoogleuser8945 Ludwig van Beethoven.

[@GomaaFilms]

​@@TheStillChillMimikyuOfficial Ludwig Göransson

[@A-B101]

Ludvig Forsell great video game composer

[@Ur2ez4me81]

That melody is definitely in a nightmare before Christmas...

[@AustinSteingrube]

Ur2ez4me81 "This is Christmas"

[@Ur2ez4me81]

Austin Steingrube “Making Christmas...”

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

That's what came to mind as well

[@rachaelmerwin8188]

That's awesome, i was thinking that right before i came across this comment. It's neat because it's not just background music, it's like, the tune of the music.

[@adelathesimpslyricvideocha217]

That song where Jack has a mental breakdown.. I forgot what its called

[@Lord_Raptor]

This is really fascinating. I've been a metal guitarist for over 24 years at this point and after watching this I realized that this "dies irae" has been used in metal music very frequently.

[@Ella-ym2yq]

Basically the whole of the music written from the musical 'Sweeney Todd' uses the dies irae, the plot is so heavily based around death, it can be found in literally every song (with the exception of like 2). I find it so amazing how Sondheim finds a way to change the format of the dies irae (for example Ms Lovett's liet motif, it is basically the dies irae flipped upside down). I find the way that the dies irae sets the scene for the musical really amazing. I always find that when I listen to the music in Sweeney Todd it really does make me think of death. The dies irae is such an amazing piece in that sense that it link our thoughts to a event with just a few notes. There is a yt video by sideways which rlly explaines it better and has a whole video on it and explains it way better.

[@Malik-Ibi]

There is a video about it.

[@marmalade8915]

There's a whole video about it

[@michaeld4676]

I'm not being a troll here, but was the Dies Ire also the basis of the strange tune in Frozen 2?

[@vortexriver1071]

Yes

[@angstyintellectual4960]

O. M. G. Yes. Brilliant.

[@JandroSingz]

I was LITERALLY just about to say this!! Went straight to the comments to see if anyone else noticed it first 😭😂❄️

[@jilliansdustychair6499]

Yes! Of course it was also heavily inspired by an ancient Nordic herding call known as “kulning” which is equally just as ethereal and a bit creepy

[@michaeld4676]

Thanks for all the responses guys. :-)

[@alexgurke3462]

Let's be real: Everyone just clicked the video just to hear the music...

[@akbas58]

Ok im real now what ?

[@Yun_Abraxas]

Nope. Love the music but that wasn't the reason I clicked it.

[@arandomperson5130]

so؟

[@barbmcelderry9164]

Yes

[@Saginaw72]

Yeah, but I stayed for the lecture.

[@donutdude6918]

i sang the song "dies irae" in choir and its one of my favorite songs ive done

[@ltp_nonexistent9944]

Cool

[@R.A.L.Dreams]

The song “Making Christmas” from the Nightmare Before Christmas literally uses this throughout the entire somg

[@blddyvel1506]

Elsa sis they in ur sequel like, the entire time

[@R.A.L.Dreams]

BloodyVelvet kiisix yeah Ik sis but my songs where a bop tho right?

[@alexandrajames9352]

That was my first thought too!!

[@dinkledankle]

Well it _was_ mentioned in the video, so.

[@liaaa6396]

Tim Burton uses it a lot in his movies to signify death lol

[@Donar23]

So the Dies Irae is basically a very old meme ...

[@Vibeguest]

😂

[@juliuskilonzi4421]

😂😂😂

[@Donar23]

@HarleyHilderson Well, by Dawkin's definition of meme it clearly is one, but it was/is even used like an internet meme nowadays.

[@mev0759]

Memes often have elements of humor or satire... so I looked up and found this: Today, the word is sometimes used to describe ideas deemed to be of passing value. Dawkins himself described such short-lived ideas as memes that would have a short life in the meme pool. I'd say this is not a meme since it is not short-lived or containing humor (2nd definition under one posted by HarleyHilderson. Not arguing, just adding info I found so save those @'s

[@mev0759]

@@Donar23 All due respect, but I think you may have misread his definition. ✌

[@itsROMPERS...]

I've noticed this for years without knowing what it is called or where it came from. But this video failed to explain what is to me the most obvious explanation for why it has the effect that it does. As they said, DESCENDING melodies are perceived as dark or sad. So what Dies Irae does is drop a half-step, then return to the first "reference" note and then drop even further, giving the sense of a progressive descent, or the feeling that things are going down at an increasing rate, that the bottom is dropping out. It drops, then it drops MORE... And so on. This has always seemed so obvious to me it never occurred to me that it was based on a specific historical entity.

[@personxyz8309]

And semitones sound universally tensional.

[@deloreswilson1798]

Fascinating.🤔

[@AutPen38]

Probably the best example of "semitones sounding tensional" is the theme music to Jaws. If you just keep repeating two notes a semitone apart while getting faster and faster, a shark wil eventually appear.

[@shirleyrombough8173]

So don't sing these four noted at the beach.

[@shirleyrombough8173]

"...notes..."

[@Salve_Regina8]

I love hearing the Dies Iræ chanted during a Requiem Latin Mass.

[@_Cato_]

Latin Mass gang Dominus vobiscum!

[@anonymoush9418]

Yes! It’s such a beautiful chant. Personally i have never heard it in real life, so i have listened to it on yt. Yes, very beautiful indeed.

[@Salve_Regina8]

@@_Cato_ yuppp! 💯

[@Salve_Regina8]

@@anonymoush9418 it’s amazing!!!

[@satriaamiluhur622]

This is why we have cliché, because it just works

[@Shiny7054]

It's not cliche so much as formula.

[@yenee94]

@@Shiny7054 cliches are just formulas that work well

[@megavolt67]

Since "cliche" carries a negative connotation, I've always thought of the word "convention" as an alternative description of an often reused formula (a lot of people these days say "trope", but like cliche, it's also often used in a negative or dismissive way). An idea or approach that is conventional is something that just works rather than something which is felt to be overused.

[@andknuckles9366]

The thing about having a engine where you can do anything is that it just works

[@judah4436]

satria amiluhur IT JUST WORKS.

[@lulu_the_blue52]

All I could hear this entire time was “Making Christmas, making Christmas-“ Send help pls all I can hear now is that tune

[@techissus7449]

Same here, first thing I thought when I heard it

[@jenniferhiemstra5228]

Ok, but when I watching this just now, I was like....I know it's everywhere but what's the ONE instance that I know of that I can't recall? Then "Nightmare" comes up and I about lose it and nearly threw my phone...

[@benbehrenfeld9379]

Immediately what I thought of

[@ADMusic1999]

Yes same here. But something interesting is that if you speed up the tune, it sounds a lot like Carol of the Bells.

[@katiekelley502]

Me too!!!!!!!

[@zoro789]

Mistake at 0:37 ! The melody is different from the others. All the others are in a minor key and progress like C-H-C-A The one from LOTR is in a major key and progresses like C-A-H-G

[@_zack_baum]

You are correct. A better example of this progression from LoTR would be the other song The One Ring Theme, which in fact does progress in the manner the video is referencing, but not the one used in the video. Sort of disappointing and embarrassing.

[@inlonging]

Thank you!!!

[@llg3pe]

GXTITAN H?

[@cyrafen]

@@llg3pe H is b natural in german notation

[@elizatoponce9375]

Many places where this melody shows up change the key or a few notes. Take the musical Sweeney Todd for instance. It’s everywhere, but put in different keys, drawn out, and switched up, but Stephen Sondheim has said that those melodies are based on this one.

[@paulbrower3297]

Gustav Mahler spoofs the tune in his gargantuan "Resurrection" Symphony, now very much in the symphonic repertory, as it alludes to the rising of the dead in a literal resurrection.

[@mallee-ann4061]

if you’ve seen Frozen 2, you’ll also notice that this piece of music is heavy in the storyline. When I really listened to the siren’s song, I was blown away 😳😳 a really nice choice for that one

[@bilingualkaraoke8665]

I hadn't realized it until the composer explicitly pointed it out in an interview, becausey rhythmically it is so much defamiliarized.

[@lilelly16]

Wow good one! It's rrue, it's the siren's song 😮

[@vb2388]

‘Rocky Mountains’ from The Shining is probably my all time favourite score..

[@SeeMick1]

That’s almost directly taken from Berlioz. They even make the synths sound like the horns.

[@jackpaice]

@@SeeMick1 I thought it basically was an adaptation of it

[@Astronomater]

it is up there for me as well but my favorite will always be 2001's Star gate sequence. Kubrick always had fantastic music!

[@harrylane4]

Not even the best Kubrick score my dude, clockwork orange takes that prize

[@malissahyatt2425]

Sleeping w the enemy. The car.

[@osayilois4841]

I just realized that these same exact notes were played in Home Alone 1, when Kevin encounters the "creepy neighbor" for the first time.

[@jacobcox4565]

When Kevin meets the old man in the church, Carol of the Bros plays, Carol of the Bells has the same notes as Dies Irae

[@kdpowers]

Came here after the tower in Westworld S4

[@firmanang9132]

Dear god the amount of work, research and video editing required to make this video... bravo vox

[@AJDOLDCHANNELARCHIVE]

So much research the examples they give at 20 seconds in aren't even the same intervals... the Star Wars one is completely different.

[@EdwinDPZ]

@@AJDOLDCHANNELARCHIVE Yes they are, they're all down a half step, up a half step, down a minor third.

[@AJDOLDCHANNELARCHIVE]

@@EdwinDPZ Sorry my mistake, but The Lord of the Rings one is completely different. It jumps down 3 semi-tones after the first note then up 2, then down 4.

[@augusto7681]

I dont have the link but I already saw the exact same examples in other video in a small channel.

[@elocinaqui24]

All the hard research and she couldn’t research the correct pronunciations of these composers

[@antoineveillerette8129]

Mozart requiem isn't a symphony.... Its a requiem (funeral mass)

[@lucatiu1608]

True story man

[@jarfo9663]

The first notes on the frozen II trailer be like

[@seangoh4337]

Yup

[@jadetheslime3140]

Dies irae, dies irae.

[@oxitape1563]

Dies Irae is also used in the main theme for the game Dead by Daylight

[@kareemalmond]

Mufasa died! I was just about to watch Lion King today, thanks for spoiling it. 😤

[@yonnwaioo10a71]

If ya havent watched it yet well you really dont need to

[@gambello1195]

Internet 101: Everything written in comments are to be taken seriously

[@slumberzombie]

People can be gullible sometimes

[@ChocoLanai]

But you already know mufasa. Dont lie to me

[@sugarmochi9251]

Bruh that movie was made in the 90's and you're just watching it *now* ?!?!?!?!

[@mygvmtnamepublicallyavailable]

Best Dies Irae: MAKING CHRISTMAS MAKING CHRISTMAS FALLA LA! :)

[@aidenflame1576]

1312 Revolutionary YEEEEEEEES XD

[@ESSBrew]

0:30 and sing this in head over and over

[@felixc543]

That was exactly what I thought when I heard it

[@vinstinct]

That's what I was hearing the whole time.

[@_marshP]

It's our's this time

[@thatspoonybard8013]

"Our ears are trained to not like those notes together" *Isn't bothered in the slightest* Then again, I'm watching this at 2 am while eating pita chips and hummus, so...

[@koreypaul6698]

so you're on top of the world.

[@PowerThrash]

That part bothered me. It's not true that our ears 'don't like it', that would be a description of dissonance. A minor tonality sounds good to our ears but it does definitely have a more sombre, sad aesthetic which is just as useful or appropriate in many musical contexts.

[@fartkerson]

I mean, I was raised on heavy metal, Tim Burton movies, and Alfred Hitchcock, so I feel a sense of anticipation when I hear dies irae.

[@andiemorgan961]

You can't hear over the munching.

[@squidjpeg9925]

I feel nothing when I hear them. It's the same as just hearing a standard c scale.

[@EDMS]

The Krampus Theme (Krampus Karol of the Bells) also has a variation of this notes! makes sense why it made me uncomfortable now lol.

[@JusticeAnimeGeek]

All I can think of is "Making Christmas" from The Nightmare Before Christmas... Hmm lol

[@gorillaguerillaDK]

Jane Justice Doe I love that movie!

[@AwesomePurpleStar]

I thought the same!!

[@ericweatherby9628]

I was thinking the same thing: the "Maaa - kiing - Christ - maas" phrase is sung to those four notes.

[@nathandrake5544]

Nice catch! I never noticed that

[@shmert]

Not just that, but Jack's Lament is also a variation of this theme, with different timing.

[@ryotaarai3816]

So I guess this makes "Carol of the Bells" super creepy then. It has a whole stanzas with nothing but this melody. 😂

[@thespectralchannel]

in all fairness, I did always find it to be a fairly spooky, 'wintery cold' sounding song

[@kitchensinkchronicles3272]

and that’s why the nightmare before christmas used a combination of dies irae and carol of the bells for the song making christmas! it’s almost too perfect of a combination!

[@cruz.c]

its a different rhythm, that might make a difference

[@totalperfection9194]

Carol of the Bells is in 3/4 time signature which completely changes the “spooky” element formed from common time

[@wayfaringspacepoet]

Take off your western music goggles dude, the Щедрик is a pre-Christian Slavic pagan new year's chant that had nothing to do with Dies Irae until contemporary western composers created the association with it in film scores

[@korolag]

I think I've heard this in a children's movie... Oh yeah Frozen 2.

[@connorknight8238]

Not quite. The riff in Frozen 2 has dotted rhythms.

[@korolag]

@@connorknight8238 Of course it wouldn't have the same rhythm, just like every other example in this video. But the melody is still there

[@connorknight8238]

No, the tempos are different. So are all the notes by the way, it’s just the same intervals.

[@jenniferhiemstra5228]

Connor Knight The whole point is the melody. Like they say in the video it’s disguised quite well in certain films that if you weren’t paying super close attention, you wouldn’t notice it. The first use of disguise is rhythmic pattern and tempo, but the point made in this video is the 4 note melody being used everywhere, regardless of its notation and chordal structure.

[@khairakhalila0110]

aAAaAAA

[@polemeros]

"You can find the theme everywhere." Well, there's one place you will never hear it anymore: at Catholic funerals since the 1960's. Sung fully in its natural locus, 6 minutes long, it is not "creepy" but majestic and elegiac and sad, as would fit the rites of death.. I was an altar boy in the 50's and heard this chant so often that I still know it by heart. But the Church decided to go groovy and modern and one of its most powerful musical treasures is now banished, while the rest of the world still responds to it. SMH.

[@mariakuriyadeth8740]

Gregorian chants are making a comeback old man

[@shirleyrombough8173]

If you listen to the died d 5:49 čo😅 5:49 5:49 😅

[@shirleyrombough8173]

If you listen to the dies irae from Cherubini's Requiem, from Verdi's Messa da Requiem and Mozart's Great Requiem, the one that wasn't quite finished, in sequence, you will want to run to a Catholic church in terror: Yes, I am guilty. Yes, I have sinned. Please don't send me to the fire. By then it may be too late.

[@intermeditateocean]

Dies irae is used heavily in frozen 2

[@arczi1309]

Bruh how didn't i notice

[@tonycotto7106]

I recently pointed this out to one of my middle school students... she was horrified.

[@awormnamedscoobis3419]

Tony C it revealed the entire plot. Like,the uh,indian boyos in the forest being killed

[@matthewcarrillo4241]

Yeah it’s also in nightmare before Christmas there’s a whole song with it being the main melody

[@i.s.9451]

But it was up an octave, making it (while still haunting) higher. Possibly changing the meaning. Spoiler Alert The silent siren turns out to be Elsa and Anna's mom who died, but still reaches out to help her children. She is dead- so it is unhappy. She is helping them- make it higher pitched. So instead of a warning of something bad, it is a warning with hopes of a good outcome.

[@lukep.6602]

1:46 did she really just pronounce "Mozart" the way my piano teacher told me NEVER to say it?

[@RevJamesAMiller]

Luke Ponce, She also pronounces the pianist as “Lintz,” not “List.” I get more and more skeptical of this gal.

[@yalltrippin1112]

Luke Ponce k

[@gypsies0184]

and "da" as "Day" and "Verdi" as "Verday"

[@yalltrippin1112]

Rev. James A. Miller yea cause we all know if u mispronounce something that means ur not as smart as James

[@yalltrippin1112]

Gypsies0 ok

[@gorgolyt]

2:45 Ah yes, Vox, I am also a big fan of the Hungarian composer Franz Linz Totentanz.

[@mellow1821]

JUST LOOK UP HOW TO SAY FOREIGN WORDS WHEN YOU DO A VIDEO VOX THANK YOU BYE

[@matiassanchez1679]

Just try to play one of his compositions 😂 it's kinda impossible

[@pebble.s]

They said 'Franz Liszt's Totentanz', hearing the 's' at the end is a bit hard

[@gorgolyt]

@@pebble.s They didn't, it's clearly "Lintz".

[@arthursimsa9005]

Yeah, and of the famous Frenchman Lewis Berlioz

[@157atonal]

Though Mozart and Verdi's Requiems do set the lyrics of the Dies Irae to music, neither requiems use the four note "dies irea" motif.

[@tommccanna7036]

Exactly what I was thinking!

[@shababkarim5907]

1:10 so God is Steve Aoki?

[@Ohmuniac]

korean jesus

[@App.ollo_]

@@Ohmuniac cake jesus

[@julianfejzo4829]

@@Ohmuniac Steve Aoki has Japanese ancestry not Korean

[@sonarbuge7958]

Julian Fejzo Same thing All Asians are the same anyway

[@Kush8oj]

Hahaha that would be funny if jesus holding a 🎂 on each hand loool

[@gicomaro9853]

Vox could do "why doors open" but still make it very interesting

[@brutalnecrodude6667]

When I hear those notes all I can think of “Making Christmas” from The Nightmare Before Christmas

[@natedobson8957]

I love how half of the examples they put at the front of the film are Danny Elfman compositions.

[@hollow9552]

Same! 😂

[@drpeppers2569]

Dies Irae sounds exactly like the Carol of the Bells melody in D minor, which is a really happy carol.

[@lilelly16]

It doesn't sound like a happy Carol to me, though - I always found it haunting and mesmerizing.

[@SteveSensenig]

@@lilelly16 I think that part of the reason is the change in rhythm. Instead of 4 equal-length ominous sounding notes, the two middle notes are twice as fast, putting the melody in 3/4 instead of 4/4, and it's usually played at a faster tempo anyway -- all of which counters the built-in historical sadness and grief of the original dies irae

[@JhadeSagrav]

I just figured this out yesterday when I was wondering why that Christmas carol is so friggin THREATENING and hummed it slowly and BROSKIE THAT IS THE DIES IRAE WHY WOULD YOU MAKE THAT A CAROL!?!

[@Fogmeister]

2:46 piano music... I fully expected... “First I was afraid, I was petrified, ...” 🤣

[@ladygiddy]

Hahaha🤣🤣

[@centiments11]

Kept thinking i could never leave without you by my side

[@olezka_dostoevsky]

Eilish But then I spent so many nights thinking how you did me wrong And I grew strong And I learned how to get along

[@nokaittothepoet4218]

I can't stahp laughing

[@mazeppa1231]

I'm a Liszt fan, and I found this funny. xD

[@sivawright]

You didn't mention Disney's 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'.

[@bluegloriousgames]

That movie is literaly perfect for the video such a shame they didn't use it

[@petergwiazda]

It’s also featured throughout the song “Making Christmas” from The Nightmare Before Christmas

[@loveria6281]

Yes! That was my first thought

[@AndreaForlani]

Yeah, and we know how that _went_

[@ferdabernstudios1187]

It’s also the theme in nightmare before Christmas

[@NuYoukai]

This is also in the Dead by Daylight theme--I was trying to figure out where I'd heard this clearly before.

[@tinalove4324]

HAHA I didn't expect to see someone mentioning DBD haha

[@kayacarmen]

YES thank you i couldn't put my finger on it

[@edstren9813]

When I saw the title “why this creepy melody is in so many movies” immediately thought... *shawtys like a melody in my head...*

[@theprousteffect9717]

Mufasa's death is one of the most impactful in all cinema, partly because you're not at all prepared for it while watching a Disney movie. The build up is so tense, and you're expecting everything to work out, which makes it even more gut-wrenching. I think all the kids in the movie theater must have been in shock after such a tragic scene early on in the film.

[@Chariking13]

Some absolutely tragic film moments were in my very earliest movies. Land Before Time comes to mind, Bambi, Fox and the Hound, Finding Nemo. Most of these films had the tragedy happen early on too.

[@kaizoisevil]

“You’re not at all prepared for it” even though Scar told you to be prepared?

[@myla9140]

Nothing is as scary as the minecraft cave ambiance

[@vitaurea]

_MINECRAFT CAVE WAR FLASHBACK_

[@BaldMancTwat]

They actually make those sounds with a gong, look it up.

[@Stand_Tall]

disk 13

[@eliascrooker7773]

😂😂😂

[@Duncan_Idaho_Potato]

Yes there is. Minecraft cave ambiance + an unexpected "TSSSSSSZZZZ" behind you. I've cartoonishly screamed "NOOO!" when this happens more times than I care to admit.

[@diveshwarsaravanan1355]

Might as well put Meet The Grahams in that reference list

[@jadenchatmann]

Was looking for this comment

[@junotisno15]

Wait, Dead by Daylight also uses this as their main menu theme.

[@fznf3376]

just about to comment this

[@drowsydolls]

Yes!! I also noticed that

[@matchyya]

dies irae can be played in different keys lol

[@suicidesquid3581]

"This tune is in the most movies..." Wilhelm: hold my beer

[@jenniferhiemstra5228]

HAHAHAHA YES! Although that's not a tune but a stock sound, but either way, we have two things that you can find EVERYWHERE in film!

[@venki3deditor]

in indian movies also Ratchasan theme music

[@gregjames9156]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@willmfrank]

Musicologist: "Dies Irae..." Wilhelm: "You mean 'Dies AIEEE!!!'"

[@SwitchFingers]

In Jordan Peels “us” he used the sample from “Tunez - I got 5 on it.” As a Dies irae

[@beeble2003]

Um, it's no surprise that the _Dies Irae_ crops up in requiems. A requiem is a piece of music for a funeral. The _Dies Irae_ is a part of that liturgy.

[@jp3813]

Kevin McCallister: "Do you hear me? I'm not afraid anymore!" Old Man Marley: **Dies irae**

[@drums4metal]

I don't know how they missed it, that one is right in your face.

[@jp3813]

@@drums4metal 1:30

[@drums4metal]

@@jp3813 I know, I meant why they didn't include the movie part in the video, maybe because is a comedy.

[@thesixfootsixexperience8781]

Thank you. I’m glad someone mentioned it

[@mariushorner3851]

Sorry, what? "Mozart's symphony Requiem"??? That's not a symphony! It's a requiem. That's why it's called "Requiem". It also does not include the Dies irae motif, it's just the liturgy's text. It's also not a great example for music outside the church - because it was written for, well, requiems in churches… So I'm sorry, but pretty much everything is simply wrong about the part with Mozart.

[@serteres32]

Same thing with Verdi. Same mistake. They are confusing the musical motif with the text from the Requiem Mass.

[@MichelleD2023]

Even the pronunciation of Mozart. "Moe-zzart" get out of here

[@astrobullivant5908]

Thank you!

[@chelsey8737]

I can't believe you just know that. Wow

[@ihno45]

Well, at least they didn't call it a "horn concerto requiem".

[@utubebroadcaster]

This music was played at Trump's inauguration, very befitting!

[@thatxonexguy5438]

Orange man bad, must impeach

[@notangryjustdismayed]

was it really?

[@springbok4015]

@@thatxonexguy5438 Duh.

[@mordred8740]

@Kevin Montrond that was my high school quote. I should've thought of the orange

[@blammers]

ThatXoneXguy Yes, he is very bad. Haven’t you been paying attention? If life were a movie he would have fallen down an elevator shaft or been eaten by a shark already.

[@ronaldl9085]

Amazing! Thanks for sharing this.

[@alexdelarge5800]

the "theme of the exorcist" is actiually tubular bells by mike oldfield, wich is not just a theme, it's a work of art

[@bartrivezzi6704]

Alex Martinelli agreed

[@Gasmanic]

I recall reading in an interview that the first time Mike Oldfield saw The Exorcist, he found it so absurd to hear his music in that setting that he practically laughed out loud in the theatre. I'd love to know what he makes of the suggestion that he was quoting Dies Irae...

[@Ploo-vee]

@@halcyonoutlander2105 , Mike Oldfield wrote and performed Tubular Bells.

[@daynakindermann141]

to be fair Berlioz was basically breathing opioids when he wrote the symphonie fantastique so like of course his symphony was full of dies ires

[@illonlymakeyoucry]

justdayna wow

[@displaychicken]

The Berlioz Requiem is amazing. Especially the Colin Davis one from back in the day

[@Crick1952]

KZbin channel 'Sidways' has a great video on the Dies irea

[@kimjiwon5484]

But vox had more ephasis on the examples..while sideway focused on its fuction as a leitmotif.

[@khadoujaaittaskourt2613]

Why not?