Gregorio Allegri 1582 – 1652
Little is known about the early life of Gregorio Allegri. At the age of 9, he was a choirboy in Rome until his voice broke. He then went on to become a tenor at San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome, where he remained between the ages of 14 and 22. It was during this time that he started studying music under the composer Giovanni Nanini, who was believed to have been a former student of Palestrina. Palestrina’s music was of a very great influence on Allegri’s style of composing. His studies were carried out quite intensely up until he was 30 years of age.
At the age of 35, he was a singer and composer at the cathedral of Fermo, then at Tivoli. It was not until he was 46 years old that he was given the rank of Maestro di Cappella (Choir Director) at the church of Santo Spirito in Sassia located in Rome. By this time, he had had 37 years of practice and training in the field of music. A large number of motets and sacred music were composed during that time.
Two years later, he joined Urban VIII’s papal choir. The experience in the choir did not only help to develop his singing ability , but also led Allegri to write a number of works for the choir’s use. Among these compositions was the one that makes him so famous to this very day, namely Miserere. It is one of the best pieces ever written during the period and is a great example of what is know as the Palestrina style of composition, whereby it was incredibly important to emphasise the texts of musical works and at the same time emphasising the beauty in music itself.
The Miserere has quite a history. It was written for the Holy Week (the week before Easter) celebrations at St. Peter’s in Rome. It proved to be such a success and such a powerful piece that its performance became a traditional part of the Holy Week service sung in the Sistine Chapel every year after. Only three copies of the piece are known to have existed. The musical score was kept under close guard of the Vatican. Copying the work was considered an offence punishable by excommunication. It was not until the time of Mozart that the piece was performed on a wider scale. It was the young 14 –year-old Mozart who wrote out the entire piece from memory after hearing only one or two performances.
To listen to more information about Miserere and hear it performed live click here
