If you’ve taken the time to read any of my blog posts on classical music, you may have spotted a recurring theme to the composers and pieces I write about. I have a deep love for the ancient vocal origins of western choral music, and the more I delve into the family tree, the more I find to love. I’m not alone of course. The respect for our choral roots is obvious in so many works by modern composers and musical scholars, like Arvo Pärt – his Magnificat, for example- or the Fantasia by the slightly-less modern Vaughan Williams.
I want to return to this theme in today’s post as I pitch you another favourite work, the Miserere mei, Deus (“Have mercy on me, O God”) –generally known simply as the Miserere- composed by the Italian composer Gregorio Allegri sometime in the 1630s. This gorgeous vocal piece was only ever performed in the Sistine chapel in Rome: the Catholic church jealously guarded its votive choral music, using only Latin texts to keep the uneducated congregations wrapped up in the impenetrable mystery of the scriptures. And publishing of much of its music was forbidden on pain of excommunication.
Remarkably, the Miserere would likely have stayed hidden away if it weren’t for the prodigious musical talents of a young Austrian composer. The young 14-year old Amadeus Mozart visited Rome with his father, Leopold, and heard the 14 minute piece performed in the Chapel one Wednesday evening. He transcribed it accurately from memory that evening. Minor corrections were made by Mozart after a second hearing on the following Friday using a score that he’d smuggled in under his hat.
The Miserere was actually written for 2 choirs, positioned in different parts of the church producing a call-and-answer effect which you can hear in some of the “historically accurate” modern recordings, such as the Tallis Scholar’s version linked here. It’s a deceptively simple piece; a setting of the Psalm 51 to be sung at 3am on the Wednesday and Friday of the Easter Holy week, which repeats the same polyphonic verse a number of times, broken up by short plain song interludes. At the end, both choirs converge to sing the same final verse. FM’s website describes it thus:
“…a sublime nine-voice setting of Psalm 51: Miserere mei, Deus, secundum magnam misercordiuam tuam (‘Have mercy upon me, O God, after Thy great goodness’). As you listen to the heavenly sound of each interweaving voice, it’s fascinating to think that Allegri composed the piece for two separate choirs: one of four voices, and the other of five.”
Take a listen. I’m not a religious man but there’s no denying the incredible beauty that belief in God’s word has inspired in so many composers down the centuries.
PS: For musical weenies who like to follow the bouncing ball, the piece is available on youtube with the musical score here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA8_oE-nS5c