Threnody
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson, see Ralph Waldo Emerson.
For the mutant character in the X-Men comics, see Threnody (comics).
A threnody is a song or hymn of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person (synonyms include dirge, coronach, lament, and elegy). The term originates from the Greek word threnoidia, from threnos (lament) + oide (song). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European root wed- (to speak) that is also the forefather of such words as ode, tragedy, comedy, parody, melody, and rhapsody.
One recent example of a threnody is Krzysztof Penderecki's Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima. A classic jazz threnody is I Remember Clifford, written to honour the memory of Clifford Brown. Epitaphios Threnos is the lamentation chanted in the Eastern Orthodox Church on Holy Saturday.
