Pie Jesu

Pie Jesu is the title given to musical settings of the final couplet of the Dies Irae, normally a part of the Requiem Mass. Those by Gabriel Fauré, Maurice Duruflé, John Rutter and Andrew Lloyd Webber include a Pie Jesu as an independent movement.

Pie Jesu Domine,

Dona eis requiem.

(O sweet Lord Jesus,

Grant them rest)

Pie (the vocative of the word pius) is conventionally translated as "sweet" here, but normally means "dutiful", "godly" or "kind". [1]

Popular culture

• The Pie Jesu from the Requiem by Lloyd Webber combines this text with that of the Agnus Dei from later in the Requiem. It was originally performed by Sarah Brightman, who rerecorded the track for her Classics album in 2001.
• Charlotte Church also recorded this version on her best-selling debut album, Voice of an Angel as did Angelis, a children's choir.
• Moe Koffman had recorded the version on his recently re-issued album Music for the Night with Doug Riley and his orchestra in 1991.
• The movie Monty Python and The Holy Grail had a scene with a group of flagellant monks chanting this hymn.
• Joseph McManners on his debut album In Dreams has recorded the Rutter version.
• Blind Guardian on their second album Follow the Blind (1989) the first song called: Inquisition, is a song in wich this text is repeated 5 times for 40 seconds.
• Swedish pop artist Håkan Hellström has repeatedly been accused of plagiarizing this piece. For more information, see the artist's Wiki.