The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1854-03-29

Allegti's Miscrere.

lhS styled thc ttVcrcnd. was native #
Rome ;hc precise date If lis birth is
unknown tut mus have taken Ilaca a.
tho. the latter end Of the seventeenth ccl
turr the hcgnnine Of the Crltccntl
a, be was admitted into the Pore. chapel
IL u 29 as Il contra-tcuor He was Of
the family Of Corrrggio. the celebrated
painter, who alsu bore the name Of Ale.
gri aud received bis musical education
from tie fam u~ Nsuiri who was con
temporary witt Palcstliua His vocal
abilities were not Of II titst-rate order.
but lie was accounted an admirable mas
ter Of harmony ioined 10 this. he bore
an excellent character for bcuceolcnce ::
it is said his door was daily crowded
10y the poor and needy. who never went
urclicved besides which, he made a
practice of visiting the prisons, in order
to bestow his aims Oh distressed and de.
serving objects
Among the compositions of Allegri.
(Which were chiefly confined to the
church) is the celebrated Miscrcre. per.
formed in the Sistino Chapel at Rome.
on the Wednesday and Friday in Passion
week, being. for its excellence, reserved
for the most solemn occasions. This
1liSerere is composed in five parts. viz
lst and I'd soprano, alto, tenor and bass.
aud is written in the key Of G. minor
la construction it is of great simplicity.
and its appearance docs not convey any
great intelligence Of the wonderful i'm
preston made by it, when performed in
the Pope's chapel.
The author of Tour in Germany,
thus relates the manner III which it is
performed at Rome during the solemn
tics of Lent.
Allegris famed 1IiSercrc, as sung at
the Sistine Chapel at Rome, during
Easter, justiies the belief that, for pur.
poses of devotion, the unaided human
voice is the most impressive of all in
struments. If such choir as that Of
his holiness could always be commanded
the organ itself might be dispensed with
This, however, is no fair sample of the
powers Of vocal sacred music; and those
who are most alive to the concord Of
human sounds forget that, IN the mix
ture of feeling produced by scene SC
imposing as the Sistine Chapel presents
on such an occasion, it is difficult to at
tribute to the music only its own share
in the overwhelming cffect. The Chris
tlan world is in mourning the throne o
the Pontlif, stripped Of all its honors
and uncovered of its royal canopy, is de
graded TO the simple elbowchai of a,
aged priest The Pontif himself, anc
the congregated dgnitares of the church
divested of all earthly pomp, knecl be
fore the cross in the unostertatious garl
of their religious orders. AS evcnn,
sinks, aud the tarers are extineui.heC
one after another, at different stages 0
the service. the fading light falls DINNER
and DINNER on the reverend figures The
prophets aud saints Of Michael Angel,
look down from the ceiling on the uiou,
worship pors beneath while tn. liviu.
A,utes uf lls Last Judgment In ever,
variety efiu.trul suffering AND celcstia
cnjoUacrt gradually vanish iu the gath
orng shade as & he scene Of horror hat
closed forever ou the one, and the othc
Aad quiltcd the darkness Of earth for
llFAcr world Is it wonderful that il
such circumstances, such music as tia
famed W3Scrcre sung by such choir
should shake the soul even Of Il Calvin
1T ?n
Although the harmony cfilis celelrat
ed comio'it'ou is lure.sndQor the time i
was wrttcn) Lcarng Il considerable slar
ofiuscnmty and peculiar kind of beau
~. yet II owes its reputation more to thu
theatrical manner of performance than
70 the composition i,solf The sam
music Is many times repeated to differ
eut words and the singers have. by ira
dltlon. certain customs and expression
which produce wonderful oifects-sucl
as swelling or diminishing the sounds a
some particular words. and singing entir
verses quicker than others Some ofth
greatest effects produced By this piece
may perhaps be attributed to the time
place. and solemnity Of the ceremonies
The Pope and conclave are all PROSTATE,
to the ground, the candles Of the chapc
and the torches of tho balustrades arr
extlnguishod one by one, and the las
verse OF the Psalm is terminated by tw,
choirs, and the chapel master bcatp,
time slower and slower, and the singers
diminishing the harmony by little and lit
tie to perfect point, followed by a pro
found silence.
The Miserere is the 5lst Psalm
whence Allegri has selected part of th,
LIST, aud the whole of %, lth, 9th, sth
10th, 18th. 18th, and 18th verses. anc
concludes with part of the 10Th So sa
cred was this composition at ono tim,
held by the Church, that the penalty @
a copy was almost tantamount TO excom
munication the thunders of the Vati
can being hurled against the miscrabl
wretch who dared to disregard its die
tates. Padre Martini states, that ther,
were never more than three copies mad
by authofity-one for the Empero
Leopold, another for the King Of Por
tugal, and the third for himself. Re
speeting the former, the following anec
dote is narrated -
The Emperor Leopold the First, no
only lover and patron of music. but ,
good composer himself, ordered his am
bassador to Romo, to entreat the Pope
to permit him to have a copy OF the eel
ebrated MiSeyere of Allegri, for the us,
Of the Imperial Chapel at Vienna
which being granted, copy was made
BY the Signor Maestro ol~ihe Pope'.
Chapel, and sOnt to the Emperor, who
had then in his service some of the best