page_title: Miserere (Allegri)
section_title: Recordings
hierarchical_section_title: Miserere (Allegri) / Recordings
caption_attribution_description: The organ and roof of King's College Chapel, Cambridge
context_page_description: Miserere is a setting of Psalm 51 by Italian composer Gregorio Allegri. It was composed during the reign of Pope Urban VIII, probably during the 1630s, for the exclusive use of the Sistine Chapel during the Tenebrae services of Holy Week, and its mystique was increased by unwritten performance traditions and ornamentation. It is written for two choirs, of five and four voices respectively, singing alternately and joining to sing the ending in 9-part polyphony.
context_section_description: The Miserere is one of the most frequently recorded pieces of late Renaissance music. An early and celebrated recording of it is the one from March 1963 by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, conducted by David Willcocks, which was sung in English and featured the then-treble Roy Goodman. This recording was originally part of a gramophone LP recording entitled Evensong for Ash Wednesday but the Miserere has subsequently been re-released on various compilation discs.
  Historically informed recordings have been released by the Sixteen, the Tallis Scholars and, more recently, Tenebrae.
  In 2015 the Sistine Chapel Choir released their first CD, including the 1661 Sistine codex version of the Miserere recorded in the chapel itself.
  Performances typically last between around 12 and 14 minutes.
caption: King's College Chapel, Cambridge
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