29-545: The Pyat Quartet , also known as Between the Wars , is a tetralogy of historical fiction novels by English author Michael Moorcock comprising Byzantium Endures , The Laughter of Carthage , Jerusalem Commands and The Vengeance of Rome published from 1981 to 2006. The novels are presented as if narrated to Moorcock by (the fictional character) Colonel Pyat or Maxim Arturovitch Pyatnitski (born on 1 January 1900 in Kiev ),
58-538: A Gregorian chant , is one of the most quoted in musical literature, appearing in the works of many composers. The final couplet, Pie Jesu , has been often reused as an independent song. The " Dies irae " has been used in the Roman Rite liturgy as the sequence for the Requiem Mass for centuries, as made evident by the important place it holds in musical settings such as those by Mozart and Verdi . It appears in
87-498: A Weimar trio into the Korngold schmaltz. Jerusalem Commands (1992), the weakest of the four volumes, is a scherzo : a fast late 1920s patter through Saharan Africa, laced with sadomasochism and sand in the mouth, but somehow running to keep still. It is The Vengeance of Rome which surprises...(last movements are always problematical). I was expecting something like a " Dies irae " or, even more interestingly, an invert " Ode to Joy ":
116-437: A bigot, a fanatical Slav nationalist forever ranting of the glories of Byzantium and its need for unceasing vigilance against the malign forces of Carthage (by which he means Jews, Muslims and all of Africa), a paedophile, a cocaine addict, a man for whom the distinction between lying and self-delusion has long since eroded, an eternal betrayer...Pyat is so consistent, so much of a piece, so relentless in his repulsiveness, that
145-469: A classic unreliable narrator and antihero who is another incarnation of Moorcock's " Eternal Champion ". Pyat is an anti-semitic Jew who believes in an anti-Christian, anti-Muslim new world order brought about by a revived Roman Empire . Charles Shaar Murray in The Independent calls Pyat "the most unreliable narrator in the fiction of the past half-century; the dustbin of history on legs. A racist,
174-615: A hymn in the Liturgy of the Hours on All Souls' Day and during the last week before Advent , for which it is divided into three parts for the Office of Readings , Lauds and Vespers , with the insertion of a doxology after each part. In the Roman Catholic Church there was formerly an indulgence of three years for each recitation and a plenary indulgence for reciting the prayer daily for
203-408: A long crescendo of a movement which, after sorting the three previous volumes and finding them lacking in final punch, built to a 1930s/1940s climax far more shattering than the solarization which changes Elric into Jerry Cornelius . I was expecting an apotheosis . But the book is nothing like that at all. It is wiser than climax (Pyat is too pockmarked with lies to give us an apotheosis). Vengeance
232-462: A month. This indulgence was not renewed in the Manual of Indulgences. The Latin text below is taken from the Requiem Mass in the 1962 Roman Missal . The first English version below, translated by William Josiah Irons in 1849, albeit from a slightly different Latin text, replicates the rhyme and metre of the original. This translation, edited for more conformance to the official Latin, is approved by
261-473: A negative spirituality inherited from the Middle Ages . Thus they removed such familiar and even beloved texts as " Libera me, Domine " , " Dies irae ", and others that overemphasized judgment, fear, and despair. These they replaced with texts urging Christian hope and arguably giving more effective expression to faith in the resurrection . " Dies irae ", slightly edited, remains in use ad libitum as
290-606: A springboard for the Pyat quartet. Moorcock has said that the Pyat Quartet is the work he’s proudest of, a series of novels attempting to unravel the racism that allowed the Holocaust to happen. D.J. Taylor in The Guardian calls the series a "historical picaresque on the grand scale, a vast and intermittently rambling chronicle of tall tales , brief encounters and expert twitches on
319-593: Is trochaic . The poem describes the Last Judgment , the trumpet summoning souls before the throne of God , where the saved will be delivered and the unsaved cast into eternal flames. It is best known from its use in the Roman Rite Catholic Requiem Mass (Mass for the Dead or Funeral Mass). An English version is found in various Anglican Communion service books. The first melody set to these words,
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#1732848610253348-500: Is a rondo ". Tetralogy A tetralogy (from Greek τετρα- tetra- , "four" and -λογία -logia , "discourse") is a compound work that is made up of four distinct works. The name comes from the Attic theater, in which a tetralogy was a group of three tragedies followed by a satyr play , all by one author, to be played in one sitting at the Dionysia as part of a competition. In
377-737: The Latin prefix quadri- instead of the Greek, and first recorded in 1865, has also been used for marketing the Alien movies. Dies irae " Dies irae " ( Ecclesiastical Latin : [ˈdi.es ˈi.re] ; "the Day of Wrath") is a Latin sequence attributed to either Thomas of Celano of the Franciscans (1200–1265) or to Latino Malabranca Orsini (d. 1294), lector at the Dominican studium at Santa Sabina ,
406-704: The Roman Missal of 1962, the last edition before the implementation of the revisions that occurred after the Second Vatican Council . As such, it is still heard in churches where the Tridentine Latin liturgy is celebrated. It also formed part of the pre-conciliar liturgy of All Souls' Day . In the reforms to the Catholic Church 's Latin liturgical rites ordered by the Second Vatican Council,
435-438: The early modern period of literature, Shakespeare drafted a pair of tetralogies, the first consisting of the three Henry VI plays and Richard III , and the second, what we now call a prequel because it is set earlier, consisting of Richard II , the two Henry IV plays, and Henry V . As an alternative to "tetralogy", "quartet" is sometimes used, particularly for series of four books. The term "quadrilogy", using
464-674: The "Consilium for the Implementation of the Constitution on the Liturgy", the Vatican body charged with drafting and implementing the reforms (1969–70), eliminated the sequence as such from funerals and other Masses for the Dead. A leading figure in the post-conciliar liturgical reforms, Archbishop Annibale Bugnini , explained the rationale of the Consilium: They got rid of texts that smacked of
493-542: The Catholic Church for use as the funeral Mass sequence in the liturgy of the Catholic ordinariates for former Anglicans . The second English version is a more dynamic equivalence translation. Dies iræ, dies illa, Solvet sæclum in favilla: Teste David cum Sibylla. Day of wrath and doom impending! David's word with Sibyl's blending, Heaven and earth in ashes ending! The day of wrath, that day, will dissolve
522-544: The Judge his seat attaineth, And each hidden deed arraigneth, Nothing unavenged remaineth. When therefore the Judge will sit, whatever lies hidden, will appear: nothing will remain unpunished. Quid sum miser tunc dicturus? Quem patronum rogaturus, Cum vix iustus sit securus? What shall I, frail man, be pleading? Who for me be interceding, When the just are mercy needing? What then shall I, poor wretch [that I am], say? Which patron shall I entreat, when [even]
551-637: The cause of Your journey : lest You lose me in that day. Quærens me, sedisti lassus: Redemisti Crucem passus: Tantus labor non sit cassus. Faint and weary, Thou hast sought me, On the Cross of suffering bought me. Shall such grace be vainly brought me? Seeking me, You rested, tired: You redeemed [me], having suffered the Cross : let not such hardship be in vain. Iuste Iudex ultionis, Donum fac remissionis Ante diem rationis. Righteous Judge, for sin's pollution Grant Thy gift of absolution, Ere
580-448: The creature will rise again, to respond to the Judge. Liber scriptus proferetur, In quo totum continetur, Unde mundus iudicetur. Lo, the book, exactly worded, Wherein all hath been recorded, Thence shall judgement be awarded. The written book will be brought forth, in which all is contained, from which the world shall be judged . Iudex ergo cum sedebit, Quidquid latet, apparebit: Nil inultum remanebit. When
609-487: The day of retribution. Just Judge of vengeance, make a gift of remission before the day of reckoning. Ingemisco, tamquam reus: Culpa rubet vultus meus: Supplicanti parce, Deus. Guilty, now I pour my moaning, All my shame with anguish owning; Spare, O God, Thy suppliant groaning! I sigh, like the guilty one: my face reddens in guilt: Spare the imploring one, O God. Qui Mariam absolvisti, Et latronem exaudisti, Mihi quoque spem dedisti. Through
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#1732848610253638-439: The early 1920s from France to America, is the slow movement, allowing us to take breath and even, for several dozen pages at a stretch, to enjoy Pyat as he engages in what might almost be thought of as shenanigans as he becomes an exceedingly minor star in some Hollywood westerns; but his betrayals of others (which he invariably understands as their betrayals not only of him but of Western civilization) do continue, like insertions of
667-652: The forerunner of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum ) in Rome. The sequence dates from the 13th century at the latest, though it is possible that it is much older, with some sources ascribing its origin to St. Gregory the Great (d. 604), Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153), or Bonaventure (1221–1274). It is a medieval Latin poem characterized by its accentual stress and rhymed lines. The metre
696-547: The just may [only] hardly be sure? Rex tremendæ maiestatis, Qui salvandos salvas gratis, Salva me, fons pietatis. King of Majesty tremendous, Who dost free salvation send us, Fount of pity, then befriend us! King of fearsome majesty, Who saves the redeemed freely, save me, O fount of mercy. Recordare, Iesu pie, Quod sum causa tuæ viæ: Ne me perdas illa die. Think, kind Jesu! — my salvation Caused Thy wondrous Incarnation; Leave me not to reprobation. Remember, merciful Jesus, that I am
725-473: The reader ends up reluctantly saluting his indefatigability". Newcity stated about Pyat: "For all his selfishness, ignorance and hate, there is a charismatic energy to the man that is found in all the truly terrible ideologues in history. Reflected in Pyat, we see not the man who sent millions to the gas chamber, but the millions who let him under the delusional guise of profit and progress". Moorcock stated that he
754-453: The thread of destiny". In his extensive review of the quartet, John Clute commented: "The best way to grasp the Pyat Quartet as a whole has been, for me, to think of it as a symphony . Byzantium Endures , the first movement , which covers the first 20 years of the century, is in sonata form: themes are introduced, contrasted, developed, reprised, concluded on a rising pitch. The Laughter of Carthage (1984), which proceeds stately through
783-442: The trumpet flingeth; Through earth's sepulchres it ringeth; All before the throne it bringeth. The trumpet , scattering a wondrous sound through the sepulchres of the regions, will summon all before the throne . Mors stupebit, et natura, Cum resurget creatura, Iudicanti responsura. Death is struck, and nature quaking, All creation is awaking, To its Judge an answer making. Death and nature will marvel, when
812-540: The world in ashes: (this is) the testimony of David along with the Sibyl . Quantus tremor est futurus, Quando judex est venturus, Cuncta stricte discussurus! Oh, what fear man's bosom rendeth, When from heaven the Judge descendeth, On whose sentence all dependeth. How great will be the quaking, when the Judge is about to come, strictly investigating all things! Tuba, mirum spargens sonum Per sepulchra regionum, Coget omnes ante thronum. Wondrous sound
841-595: Was "interested in understanding the enemy as it were and what idealism informs the reactionary". He said that he wanted to get to the roots of the Holocaust in the Pyat books as he was afraid it might happen again and so felt that he was morally obliged to write the books. He mentioned that the Pyat novels are how he sees the world as having been brought to most of its worst crises through notions of improvability and that he also used his friend and fellow author Arthur C. Clarke ’s notions, with which he profoundly disagreed, as
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