Miserere Mei, Deus
Gregorio Allegri wrote it in 1630s. It translates in English to "Have Mercy on Me, O God."
It was written to be performed in the Sistine Chapel and was by far the favorite of the public and most of the Popes. The piece was considered forbidden, and anyone who transcribed it or performed it outside of the Sistine Chapel was excommunicated.
In 1770, a 14-year-old Mozart was visiting Rome and saw the piece performed. He was so entranced by the piece he went and transcribed the whole thing from memory during the afternoon of the same day, and eventually it was passed on to a historian from England, and eventually made it to London and then the rest of Europe.
The Pope, upon learning that the piece had escaped, and finding out how it had escaped, decided that Mozart's musical genius was a gift from God, and instead of excommunicating it, invited him for a personal audience and lifted the ban on the performance of the piece.
I heard it at a concert my parents took me to as a kid, and it just about killed me then, but I could never figure out what the piece was called or learn anything about it.
Then the other day NPR was doing a bit about letters between Mozart's father and mother while Mozart was abroad, and the letter confirming that Mozart had in fact transposed the piece. Then they played the entire thing.
I can't stop listening to it, as I am stricken raw.
It was written to be performed in the Sistine Chapel and was by far the favorite of the public and most of the Popes. The piece was considered forbidden, and anyone who transcribed it or performed it outside of the Sistine Chapel was excommunicated.
In 1770, a 14-year-old Mozart was visiting Rome and saw the piece performed. He was so entranced by the piece he went and transcribed the whole thing from memory during the afternoon of the same day, and eventually it was passed on to a historian from England, and eventually made it to London and then the rest of Europe.
The Pope, upon learning that the piece had escaped, and finding out how it had escaped, decided that Mozart's musical genius was a gift from God, and instead of excommunicating it, invited him for a personal audience and lifted the ban on the performance of the piece.
I heard it at a concert my parents took me to as a kid, and it just about killed me then, but I could never figure out what the piece was called or learn anything about it.
Then the other day NPR was doing a bit about letters between Mozart's father and mother while Mozart was abroad, and the letter confirming that Mozart had in fact transposed the piece. Then they played the entire thing.
I can't stop listening to it, as I am stricken raw.