Music

This year, our Tenebrae service will conclude with Allegri’s mystical Miserere. For centuries, the work was a secret of the Vatican Choir. Performed since 1638, members of the Vatican Choir were forbidden from sharing the work outside of the Sistine Chapel, on pain of excommunication. Only three copies were made, one for the Holy Roman Emperor, one for the King of Portugal, and one for an eminent music scholar. But they were not exact copies as the Pope wanted it to be secret. 

And so it did, until a 14-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, on a performance tour with his father, Leopold, attended the Wednesday service during Holy Week. The Miserere was performed at this liturgy, and after hearing it a few hours earlier, wrote the piece down in its entirety. He returned to the Vatican on Good Friday to make corrections, and the secret was out and it was published in London in 1771. 

One of the most famous moments in this piece is the singing of the high C, which will be performed beautifully by our own Michele Currenti. This high C was actually a later addition. When Felix Mendelssohn went to the Vatican in 1831, he heard the piece being sung higher than originally intended. His version, not the original, entered into the famous Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians, and since then, the repeated beauty of the soaring high notes has become the centerpiece of the work. 

So, thanks to two of the world’s greatest composers, we are able to enjoy this mystical work this week at Tenebrae! Please join us!!
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