Requiem. Part VI. Do the words matter?

Bill Shirley is asking: "Do you follow the lyrics when you listen to this music?"

Great question! Following the lyrics while they are singing gives the experience an additional dimension for sure, especially when you recognize repetitions.The text of Requiem Mass is pretty much standardized by the Catholic Church. Some composers modify it, but the essence remains the same. The lyrics are Catholic chants repeated several times each. Bach's Mass in B Minor takes about 2 hours to perform. Here's the complete text sans the repetitions. It's like 50 lines: http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~tan/bachbminor/bmmtext.html

I am not sure that the literal meaning of the chants is particularly important. However, their general mood is.

Compare:

Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem.
Dona eis requiem sempiternam.

Merciful Lord Jesus, grant them rest;
grant them eternal rest.

and

Libera me, Domine, de morte æterna, in die illa tremenda:
Quando cœli movendi sunt et terra.
Dum veneris iudicare sæculum per ignem.

Deliver me, O Lord, from death eternal on that fearful day,
when the heavens and the earth shall be moved,
when thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.

Guess which one of these will get a more peaceful treatment in the music and which a more urgent one.

The most dramatic part of the lyrics of a Requiem Mass is Dies Irae:

Dies iræ, dies illa
Solvet sæclum in favilla
Teste David cum Sibylla
Quantus tremor est futurus
Quando iudex est venturus
Cuncta stricte discussurus

That day of wrath, that dreadful day,
shall heaven and earth in ashes lay,
as David and the Sybil say.
What horror must invade the mind
when the approaching Judge shall find
and sift the deeds of all mankind!

It's a long verse in the middle of the Mass, talking about the judgment day. The actual melody of the chant is used in many pieces of music, requiems and otherwise. Whenever you hear the opening motive, you are supposed to think "Oh, shit!" or something like that, even though the tune itself does not sound particularly ominous. Knowing the words, or at least the general theme, is important in this case.