May the angels escort you into paradise; at your coming, may the martyrs receive you and bring you into the holy city, Jerusalem. May the chorus of angels receive you, and with Lazarus, once a poor man, may you have eternal rest.
In Paradisum is the Gregorian chant antiphon sung at the end of the traditional Roman Catholic Requiem Mass as the body is being taken out of the church. The chant is in the mixolydian mode.
Find a list of other chant themes here.
Dies Irae is the Gregorian chant Latin sequence sung at the Roman Catholic Requiem mass. It dates from at least the thirteenth century and is often attributed to Thomas of Celano of the Franciscan Order or the Dominican Latino Malabranca Orsini. In some sources its origin is ascribed to St. Gregory the Great, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, or St. Bonaventure. The text describes the day of judgment, the last trumpet summoning souls before the throne of God, where the saved will be delivered and the unsaved cast into eternal flames.
Dies Irae is in the Dorian mode. See a list of other chant themes here.
Videos:
László Fassang – Improvisation on ‘Dies Irae’ – Biserica Reformată de pe Ulița Lupilor
János Pálúr – Dies Irae – Improvisation – Palace of Arts, Budapest
Website:
http://www.gereonkrahforst.org
Gereon Krahforst was born in 1973 in Bonn, Germany. He studied composition, church music, piano, and music theory at the university for music in Cologne, musicology at the University of Cologne and received his diploma and masters degree in organ in Frankfurt. He has studied privately with Markus Karas, John Birley (before the university studies), and then with Clemens Ganz, and Daniel Roth. During and after those studies, he participated in masterclasses with Marie-Claire Alain, Thierry Escaich, Peter Planyavsky, Jon Laukvik (ancient music), Guy Bovet, Wolfgang Seifen, Tomasz A. Nowak, Franz Lehrndorfer and many others. Other significant mentors are Petr Eben and professional friendships with Jean Guillou, Marie-Louise Langlais and Stephen Tharp.
At the age of 26, he was appointed director of music and organist at the Minster basilica in Moenchengladbach, Germany, and at age 27, he worked as director of music at the Cathedral of Minden, Germany. At the age of 29, he was appointed cathedral organist at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Paderborn and lecturer (Gregorian Chant) at the theological seminary of Paderborn. In 2004, he was appointed lecturer and instructor of organ at the University of Music in Hannover. In 2011, he moved to Spain where he was organist at the Incarnation Church of the world-famous town Marbella at the Costa del Sol in Andalucia, playing the nationally significant “Órgano del Sol Mayor”; since August 2012, he has been cathedral organist and associate director of music at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
Videos:
Improvises a free piece in the style of Robert Schumann – Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis
Gereon Krahforst – Improvisation on the Paderborn’s Libori Hymn tune – Klais Organ in the Cathedral of Cologne
