Miserere (Allegri)

A man named Allegri wrote a special song.

It was made for a big chapel. Many people sing this song together.

One group of singers sings a part. Then, a second group sings a part.

They take turns singing.

At the end, all the singers join in. They sing with nine voices at once. This makes a very big sound.

Some people say a young boy named Mozart heard it. He wrote the whole song from memory!

People still love to sing this music today. It is a very famous song.

A composer named Gregorio Allegri wrote a famous piece of music.

It is called the Miserere. He wrote it in the 1630s. The music was made for the Sistine Chapel.

This is a very special place in the Vatican.

The song uses many voices to make a rich sound. It uses a style called polyphony. This means many parts sing at once. The music has three choirs. Two choirs take turns singing. One choir has five voices. The other choir has four voices. A third group sings simple chants. At the very end, all nine voices sing together. This creates a grand finale.

For a long time, people thought the music was a secret. They believed only a few people had copies. A famous story says Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart heard it as a boy. People say he wrote it all down from memory! While some doubt this story, it is still a popular legend. Today, many choirs still sing the Miserere. It is a very loved piece of music.

The Miserere is a famous piece of choral music.

It was written by the Italian composer Gregorio Allegri. The title comes from Latin words meaning "Have mercy on me, O God." This music is a setting of Psalm 51. It is meant to sound rich and deep. Many people find it beautiful and special.

It is one of the most well-known examples of polyphony. Polyphony is a style where many different voices sing at once. This creates a very complex and lovely sound.

To make this sound, the music uses three different choirs. The first choir has five voices. The second choir has four voices. A third choir sings simple chants called plainsong. The two main choirs take turns singing different verses. For example, the first choir sings verses 1, 5, 9, 13, and 17. The second choir sings verses 3, 7, 11, 15, and 19. At the very end, in verse 20, all nine voices join together. This makes a grand and powerful finale.

Allegri likely wrote this piece in the 1630s. He wrote it for the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. It was used during special services called Tenebrae. These services happen during Holy Week. The music used a style called falsobordone. This was a way to sing psalm tones with many parts. This practice of using special singing styles dates back to at least 1514. The music was closely guarded by the Vatican for a long time.

Because the music was kept secret, many legends grew. People thought only three authorized copies existed outside the Vatican. One was held by Emperor Leopold I. Another was with the King of Portugal. The third was with Padre Martini. A famous story says Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart heard it in Rome. He was only fourteen years old at the time. People say he wrote the whole thing down from memory! While some people doubt this story, it remains a very famous legend.

Today, the Miserere is still performed by many choirs. You can hear it in many recordings. A famous version was recorded by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge.

They used an English translation of the words. Most performances of the whole work last between 12 and 14 minutes. It is a piece that connects the past to the present. Musicians still study and sing it to keep the tradition alive.

The *Miserere* is a renowned choral composition by the Italian composer Gregorio Allegri.

Its full title is *Miserere mei, Deus*, which is Latin for "Have mercy on me, O God." The work is a musical setting of Psalm 51. It is celebrated as one of the most enduring examples of polyphony. Polyphony is a musical texture where multiple independent melodic lines are sung at once. This creates a rich, layered sound that remains a cornerstone of late Renaissance music.

To understand how the piece sounds, one must look at its specific structure. Allegri used a technique called *falsobordone*. This was a method used to perform psalm tones in a polyphonic style. The composition is written for three distinct choirs. The first choir consists of five voices, specifically SATTB. The second choir consists of four voices, known as SATB. A third choir provides simple plainsong responses between the verses. This arrangement allows for a complex interplay of sound.

The performance follows a precise sequence of alternating verses. The first choir sings verses 1, 5, 9, 13, and 17. The second choir sings verses 3, 7, 11, 15, and 19. These are interspersed with the plain-chant renderings from the third choir. In the final verse, verse 20, all nine voices join together. This creates a massive nine-part rendition for the finale. In the 18th century, one tenor part was transposed up an octave. This changed the setting to SSATB, which is the version most commonly heard today.

Allegri likely composed the work during the 1630s, possibly around 1638. It was written for the exclusive use of the Sistine Chapel. The music was intended for Tenebrae services during Holy Week. This practice of using *falsobordone* settings in the chapel dates back to at least 1514. The piece was closely guarded by the Vatican for many years. Much of its mystery came from the Renaissance tradition of ornamentation. These vocal decorations were practiced in the Sistine Chapel but were virtually unknown elsewhere.

Because the Vatican kept the ornamentation secret, many legends emerged. One common myth claimed there were only three authorized copies outside the Vatican. These copies were reportedly held by Emperor Leopold I, the King of Portugal, and Padre Martini. However, history shows the music was actually available in Rome. It was also performed in places like London as early as 1735. By the 1760s, the Academy of Ancient Music frequently performed the work. This suggests the piece was more widely known than the legends imply.

A famous legend involves the musical genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. According to a letter from his father, Leopold Mozart, the young boy heard the piece in Rome. He was only fourteen years old at the time. The story claims Mozart wrote the entire composition down from memory. While scholars have cast doubt on this story, it remains a powerful piece of musical lore. Mozart's talent was so great that Pope Clement XIV later awarded him the Chivalric Order of the Golden Spur in 1770.

Modern audiences still experience the *Miserere* through various recordings and editions. The most common version is based on an 1880 edition by William Smyth Rockstro. This version includes a famous "top C" in the second-half of the four-voice section. Many people know the work through the English translation by Miles Coverdale. This version was popularized by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge. A complete performance of the work usually lasts between 12 and 14 minutes. It remains one of the most frequently recorded pieces of late Renaissance music.