Threnody

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Jan Kochanowski with his dead daughter in a painting by Jan Matejko inspired by the poet's Threnodies.

A threnody is a song, hymn or poem of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person. The term originates from the Greek word threnoidia, from threnos ( "wailing") + oide ("ode");[1] ultimately, from the Proto-Indo-European root wed- ("to speak") that is also the precursor of such words as "ode", "tragedy", "comedy", "parody", "melody" and "rhapsody".

Synonyms include "dirge", "coronach", "lament" and "elegy". The Epitaphios Threnos is the lamentation chanted in the Eastern Orthodox Church on Holy Saturday. John Dryden commemorated the death of Charles II of England in the long poem Threnodia Augustalis, and Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote a "Threnody" in memory of his son.[2]

[edit] Examples of threnody

Three classic jazz threnodies are:[citation needed]

Threnody Ensemble are an experimental classical music group.

Ihrenody is also the title of a book written by Joseph Napoli that was published in 1995. He is also known for such great Sicilian American classics as A Dying Cadence. (this man was my grand father and here are the links http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1886166021)

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Oxford Companion to Music (2010)
  2. ^ Grove Music Online (2010)
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