Miserere

One of the most celebrated pieces of early sacred music, Allegri’s Miserere is as famous today as it was in the 17th and 18th centuries, when it was the most prized work in the repertory of papal choir in Rome. A setting of Psalm 51, it dates from 1638 and was sung annually in the Sistine Chapel until the 1870s. Part of the mystery surrounding the work arose from the way it was performed—in near darkness, as the Pope and cardinals knelt before the altar. Allegri kept the music very simple to suit the restrained mood of Holy Week and facilitate performance in the dark. Following tradition, he allocated successive verses of the text to alternating choirs of five and four voices, each separated by plainsong. The choirs recited the text to a simple harmonic formula ending with a cadential flourish. What gave the music its distinctive character were the added extras—improvised ornaments and elaborate embellishments supplied by the singers themselves. These were jealously guarded and, because they were passed on orally from generation to generation, gradually changed over time. So, many different versions of the Miserere survive, including those taken down by ear in the Sistine Chapel by Mozart (1770) and Mendelssohn (1831). The famous high C, like much of the version generally sung today, dates from well after Allegri’s time.