Miserere by Gregorio Allegri is a piece of a cappella religious music (a setting of Psalm 50/51) composed during the reign of Pope Urban VIII, probably during the 1630s, for use in the Sistine Chapel during matins on Wednesday and Friday of Holy Week. It was the last of twelve falsobordone Miserere settings composed and chanted at the service since 1514 and the most popular: at some point, it became forbidden to transcribe the music and it was only allowed to be performed at those particular services, adding to the mystery surrounding it. Writing it down or performing it elsewhere would be punished by excommunication. The setting which escaped from the Vatican is actually a conflation of verses set by Gregorio Allegri around 1638 and Tommaso Bai (1650 - 1718, also spelled Baj) in 1714. Gregorio Allegri Gregorio Allegri (1582 – February 7, 1652) was an Italian composer and priest of the Roman School of composers. ... A cappella music is vocal music or singing without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. ... This article should be transwikied to Wikibooks or Wikisource Psalms 51 1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. ... Pope Urban VIII (April 1568 – July 29, 1644), born Maffeo Barberini, was Pope from 1623 to 1644. ... The Sistine Chapel (Italian: ) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope, in the Vatican City. ... For the Anglican service of Mattins see Morning Prayer Matins is the early morning prayer service in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. ... Holy Week (Latin: Hebdomada Sancta) in Christianity is the last week of Lent. ... Falsobordone is a style of recitation found in music from the 15th to the 18th centuries. ... 1514 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community. ... Gregorio Allegri Gregorio Allegri (1582 – February 7, 1652) was an Italian composer and priest of the Roman School of composers. ...

The Miserere is written for two choirs, the one of five and the other of four voices. One of the choirs sings a simple version of the original Miserere chant; the other choir, spatially separated, sings an ornamented "commentary" on the other choir. Many have cited this work as an example of the stile antico or prima prattica. However, its constant use of the dominant seventh chord and its emphasis on polychoral techniques certainly put it out of the range of prima prattica. A more accurate comparison would be to the works of Giovanni Gabrieli. Stile antico, literally ancient style, is a term which has been used to describe music from the sixteenth through the twentieth centuries. ... Prima pratica, literally first practice, refers to early Baroque music which looks more to the style of Palestrina, or the style codified by Gioseffo Zarlino, than to more modern styles. ... A seventh chord is a chord or triad which has a note the seventh above the tonic in it. ... This article is about the musical term. ... Giovanni Gabrieli Giovanni Gabrieli (c. ...

Although there were a handful of supposed transcriptions in various royal courts in Europe, none of them succeeded in capturing the beauty of the Miserere as performed annually in the Sistine Chapel. According to the popular story (backed up by family letters), the fourteen-year-old Mozart was visiting Rome, when he first heard the piece during the Wednesday service. Later that day, he wrote it down entirely from memory, returning to the Chapel that Friday to make minor corrections. Some time during his travels, he met the British historian Dr. Charles Burney, who obtained the piece from him and took it to London, where it was published in 1771. Once it was published, the ban was lifted, and Allegri's Miserere has since been one of the most popular a cappella choral works now performed. The work was also transcribed by Felix Mendelssohn in 1831 and Franz Liszt, and various other 18th and 19th century sources survive. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (IPA: , baptized Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart) (January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. ... Charles Burney by Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1781 Charles Burney (April 12, 1726 – April 12, 1814) was an English music historian and father of author Fanny Burney. ... Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born and known generally as Felix Mendelssohn (February 3, 1809 – November 4, 1847) was a German composer and conductor of the early Romantic period. ... Portrait by Henri Lehmann, 1839 Franz Liszt (Hungarian: Liszt Ferenc; pronounced , in English: list) (October 22, 1811 – July 31, 1886) was a Hungarian [1] virtuoso pianist and composer of the Romantic period. ...

Mozart was summoned to Rome by the Pope, only instead of excommunicating the boy the Pope showered praises on him for his feat of musical genius.

Burney's edition did not include the ornamentation that made the work famous. The original ornamentations were Renaissance techniques that preceded the composition itself, and it was these techniques that were closely guarded by the Vatican. Few written sources, not even that of Burney, showed the ornamentation, and it was this that created the legend of the work's mystery. However, the Roman priest Pietro Alfieri published in 1840 an edition with the intent of preserving the performance practice of the Sistine choir in the Allegri and Bai compositions, including ornamentation. In music, ornaments are musical flourishes that are not necessary to the overall melodic (or harmonic) line, but serve to decorate or ornament that line. ... Pietro Alfieri was a Roman Catholic priest and at one time a Camaldolese monk, b. ...

The piece as it is sung today, with a top C, is not authentic. It is the result of an error in the first edition of Grove's Dictionary of Music of 1880, in an article on ornamentation by the musicologist William Smith Rockstro. In it, he wrote out the first half of the verse out twice, but transposed the second half up a fourth, as recorded by Felix Mendelssohn when he transcribed it. As a result the bass part leaps from F sharp to C, a progression (known as a tritone) forbidden by the rules of counterpoint at the time when Allegri was working. Sir Ivor Atkins, the choirmaster of Worcester Cathedral, copied the Rockstro verse from Grove's for his English language edition of 1951, and liked what he heard. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2001 The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians, considered by most scholars to be the best general reference source on the subject in the English language. ... Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born and known generally as Felix Mendelssohn (February 3, 1809 – November 4, 1847) was a German composer and conductor of the early Romantic period. ... The augmented fourth between C and F# forms a tritone. ... In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm, and interdependent in harmony. ... Sir Ivor Atkins (born Llandaff 29 November 1869, died Worcester 26 November 1953) was the choirmaster and organist at Worcester Cathedral for over 50 years. ... A plan of Worcester Cathedral made in 1836. ...

Authentic editions have been produced in the last few years using Alfieri's account of 1840, original Vatican source material and other manuscripts, but most modern listeners know only the garbled 20th century version which remains highly popular with conductors.

The Miserere is one of the most often-recorded examples of late Renaissance music, although it was actually written during the chronological confines of the Baroque era; in this regard it is representative of the music of the Roman School of composers, who were stylistically conservative.

Over the years many visitors to the Vatican during Holy Week have been disappointed when it was not an Allegri Service on their day. Holy Week (Latin: Hebdomada Sancta) in Christianity is the last week of Lent. ...

Arguably the most famous recording of Allegri's Miserere was that made in March 1963 by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, conducted by Sir David Willcocks, which featured the then-treble Roy Goodman. This recording of the Miserere was originally part of a LP recording entitled 'Evensong for Ash Wednesday' but the Miserere has subsequently been re-released as part of various compilation discs. The world-famous Choir of Kings College, Cambridge is one of todays most accomplished and renowned representatives of the great British choral tradition. ... Full name The King’s College of Our Lady and St Nicholas in Cambridge Motto Veritas et Utilitas Truth and usefulness Named after Henry VI Previous names - Established 1441 Sister College(s) New College, Oxford Provost Prof. ... Sir David Willcocks (b. ... Roy Goodman (born 21 January 1951, Guildford, England ) is a freelance conductor, violinist and organist. ... It has been suggested that Childrens gramophone records be merged into this article or section. ...

Miserere mei, Deus, secundum magnam misericordiam tuam.

"Have mercy upon me, O God, after thy great goodness."

Contents 1 Text 2 Translation (King James Bible) 3 Sources 4 External links

Text

Miserere mei, Deus: secundum magnam misericordiam tuam.

Et secundum multitudinem miserationum tuarum, dēlē iniquitatem meam.

Amplius lavā me ab iniquitate mea: et peccato meo mundā me.

Quoniam iniquitatem meam ego cognōscō: et peccatum meum contra me est semper.

Tibi soli peccāvī, et malum coram te fēcī: ut justificeris in sermonibus tuis, et vincās cum judicaris.

Ecce enim in inquitatibus conceptus sum: et in peccatis concepit me mater mea.

Ecce enim veritatem dilexisti: incerta et occulta sapientiae tuae manifesti mihi.

Asperges me, Domine, hyssopo, et mundābor: lavābis me, et super nivem dēalbābor.

Auditui meo dabis gaudium et laetitiam: et exsultabunt ossa humiliata.

Averte faciem tuam a peccatis meis: et omnes iniquitates meas dele.

Cor mundum crea in me, Deus: et spiritum rectum innova in visceribus meis.

Ne projicias me a facie tua: et spiritum sanctum tuum ne auferas a me.

Redde mihi laetitiam salutaris tui: et spiritu principali confirma me.

Docebo iniquos vias tuas: et implii ad te convertentur.

Libera me de sanguinibus, Deus, Deus salutis meae: et exsultabit lingua mea justitiam tuam.

Domine, labia mea aperies: et os meum annuntiabit laudem tuam.

Quoniam si voluisses sacrificium, dedissem utique: holocaustis non delectaberis.

Sacraficium Deo spiritus contribulatus: cor contritum, et humiliatum, Deus, non despicies.

Benigne fac, Domine, in bona voluntate tua Sion: ut aedificentur muri Jerusalem.

Tunc acceptabis sacrificium justitiae, oblantiones, et holocausta: tunc imponent super altare tuum virtulos.

Translation (King James Bible)

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness: This page is about the version of the Bible; for the Harvey Danger album, see King James Version (album). ...

According unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

Sources

• A detailed discussion of the piece's authentic sources and manuscript history, and an authentic performing edition
• Documents describing Mozart's transcription of the Allegri Miserere at WikiSource

External links

• Score from the Choral Public Domain Library