Professional Singer Reacts to Allegri's Miserere
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ต.ค. 2022
- Tenebrae Choir performs Allegri's Miserere
Allegri's Miserere is one of the most famous choral pieces in the choral music canon. The legendary high C, the stunning polyphony, and the beautiful cathedrals in which its performed. In this video, I share my thoughts on Allegri's masterpiece, and even discuss the rumour and mystique surrounding W.A. Mozart
Thank you SO MUCH to the Tenebrae Choir for their stunning performance!
Tenebrae Choir:
Website: www.tenebrae-choir.com/
TH-cam Channel: / thetenebraechoir
Link to original video: • Miserere mei, Deus - A...
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Thank you for this lovely video and review - we are so happy to hear your thoughts!
Nick should react to "Os justi" next!
Wow, did not expect you to be here
I was introduced to this piece 40 years ago and it blew my mind. I had never before heard anything so beautiful.
Couldn’t agree more. It’s by far one of my favourite pieces 😍🎉
I was in my early 20s , loved all sorts of music, punk, new romantic etc etc. And then I heard this, I honestly have to try not to cry, the beauty of the human voice
You're completely right, the story of Mozart's incredible transcription has been fiddled with over the years, but the main part of it is true. In letters from Leopold, his father, to his wife in Salzburg, he states that "Wolfgang managed to write down the work in its entirety on the Friday, then returned to make corrections on the Sunday". It happened when Wolfgang and his father were in Rome, and just so happened to be there during Holy Week. At the time, there were only three copies of the work, one in the Netherlands, one in England and the other in Italy, belonging to Italian composer and scholar Giovanni Battista "Padre" Martini. Also something that proves this point is that, after word got out, the Pope conferred upon Mozart the Order of the Golden Spur, which had only been awarded to one other composer: Christoph Willibald Gluck. Mozart then became a Knight, and signed all his manuscripts with "Cavaliere Wolf. Amadeo Mozart". Also, in the 19th century, German composer Felix Mendelssohn edited the work and added in the most famous aspect: the high C. This was never in Allegri's original manuscript, and has only been used since the 1890s, so some of the work isn't intact.
I sang the alto part in the four-part choir. This piece is a must for anyone who considers itself a singer. My recommendation is find yourself a choir that's all up to accept the challenge and do it.
Well said! It’s not an easy undertaking but sooooo worth it!
For those who read my comment, he is the teacher and director that showed me the song. Best regards
These singers perform it in such a way the one can actually hear and understand the words
Yes it’s so beautifully done!
I've been lucky enough to listen to this live twice. Once in church on Ash Wednesday and the other at a concert with the New College Choir from Oxford. The voices of those young Trebles were absolutely out of this world.
For me it’s the most formidable piece of music ever written. If there’s Heaven, I think this could be very close to It. This choir is my favourite at performing this sublime piece. I’d like to thank this young musician for analysing and explaining it so beautifully.
Thank you so much!
amazing piece and stellar choir - This group is PHENOMENAL. One of the basses used to be a member of the renowned King's Singers group. They are arguably one of the best period a capella groups in the world.
I completely agree! They are a stunning ensemble
The Tenebrae Choir's rendition is my absolute favorite.
I have been listening to this version several times, it is just amazing and angelical, the scenary, the voices, Tenebrae Choir made the best version of that masterpiece I've heard.
I love seeing your reactions to classical pieces like this! Keep 'em coming!😍
Will do, Sima! Hope all is well with you - keep on singing 🎉
I first encountered the Allegri at a celebration of Tenebrae -- that is to say, in the evening, in a church with subdued lighting ("Tenebrae" means "darkness," and the Tenebrae liturgy entails gradually extinguishing the candles in the church), and with the scent of incense in the air -- with the choir arrayed antiphonally, so you got the spatial separation in the midst of all that atmosphere, and sung by excellent singers. Talk about a transcendent moment!
Wow what an experience! This music is only elevated when you perform them at special venues, for special occasions. Thank you for sharing!
What a geek! Very respectfully from one geek to another. This is, without doubt, the best performance I have ever heard. Excellent reaction.
Hahah thank you! I love this music and am so excited to share my thoughts on it!
The last part was really beyond this world. My soul just left my body.
I have sung it a number of times. It was always for Tenebrae on Wednesday evening in Christ Church Cathedral in Fredericton New Brunswick. I agree that is an astoundingly beautiful piece.
I sang this with my high school choir in a cathedral, for a messa. The small choir sopranos 1 and 2 both had incredible voices, the high C was stunning, and it was so beautiful I wondered how I even happened to be part of a choir that could do something so amazing and sound so majestic.
I've seen this video many times for several years. Such perfection!
It’s beautoful
I sang this with my choir a few years ago and I absolutely love this piece!
It’s one of the best!
I too have been entranced by this work for 40 years. With or without the high notes. With or without the mythology attached to it.
It's in my opinion the finest choral work ever written, and your video commentary here is spot on. Well done!
That’s true, when you take away the mystique of it, you’re life with an utterly stunning piece of music!
Proud to be Catholic Christian. 😌
🤨
The music has no religión
@@Krissws it technically does, but it doesn’t matter cause nobody understands the lyrics anyways.
We're not proud we're blessed to be catholic
@@Larbitoso_owe don’t listen to false prophets..when u are ready lord is waiting.
I really loved your commentary/reaction to this piece of music. Of all the reaction videos I've seen by voice coaches and musicians, you're the only one Ive heard that seems to know what you're talking about. Seriously! No Joke.
When you are describing what is happening, I get the feeling of being drawn into the "action" of what is taking place there. Good job mate, and keep it up.
Thank you so much, Stephen! It’s really fun for me to record these - I have a lot of thought these great pieces, and I love analyzing them and learning more ❤️🎉
I got to sing this piece last year with a choir, and I sang Soprano - luckily not the one with the high C and all the pressure! The one who sang it was very capable and did a wonderful job. But it’s a stunning piece and will always be a favorite of mine, and has become quite close to my heart. Psalm 51 also is much more precious to me after having sung this piece. Something about truly sacred music to sacred text never leaves a person. I also really love the recording by Clare college and highly recommend it if you haven’t heard that one!
Thank you for your comment! So glad you got to experience this piece 🙂
Watching this was like a door opening for me. I’ve never even thought about what goes into this kind of singing before. I was too busy enjoying it, I suppose. Thank you so much for the perspective, it actually kind of blew my mind!
Always loved that Tenebrae choir video, never knew where it was performed! In my home town of all places! 🙏🏼
So cool!
I was a 23 year old career drug dealer when I first heard this. It was so beautiful. It was the first time I cried(or felt anything) in years. I'm new to God and don't want to speak out of place, but this song introduced me to God's love and helped change my life, start a career, and focus on the Lord. I do not want to come off as evangelical, however; I've seen what the world has(money, ferraris, lambos, presidential suites in Miami, running around with 2 Chainz off duty bodyguards, $1000 "escorts" offering themselves to me cause i was the man, ect...). I've seen a lot of "wordly" things, and none of it, none, compares to the beauty and love of our Lord Jesus. God could literally start fresh whenever, but He loves us, and is giving each of us individually every chance HE can to use our own free will and repent.
Welcome home friend. This is my favorite song and I'm sure it resonates with you for the same reason it resonates with me. It is a prayer for forgiveness.
This is the most transcendental & haunting piece of music I have ever heard. It's feels like the holy love of God piercing straight through the heart.
Hard to argue with that, and I'm a Bach enjoyer first and foremost
Thank you for your awesome analysis Nick. I would love to know what happens in your mind and spirit, before you’re getting ready to sing it, during and after the very last note. It’s so impressively we’ll written for it’s time, it blows me away. What knowledge of acoustics and synchronicity. TY Nick!🙏🏼
I even just learned that Allegri actually was inspired by an earlier composition of Miserere (Festa). It's crazy how the high C wasn't even originally there.
So beautiful.
Almost 16 minutes of goose bumps.
Thank you for your input🙏
My pleasure! Thank you for watching
I used to sing this each Ash Wednesday as part of a university chapel choir which will remain nameless to protect the innocent - one year, the tenor soloist didn't show at all before the service, and the conductor filled in until he rocked up halfway through. I don't recall ever seeing that singer again.
Oh noooo! 😂 Yeah I can imagine they got sacked after missing such an important moment
Such a beautiful rendition
Tenebrae is a fantastic group!
I listen to it everyday and hope we will sing this piece one day with my Choir. Cheers from France !
Thank you! Cheers from Canada 😁
I love your videos and everything is awesome!
Thanks so much Dustin!
Absolutely Superb and I one of my favourites since I heard this almost forty years ago
I was able to hear this in the cathedral in Wellington new Zealand... just superb. Goosebumps and constant anticipation for the high c.
I've always wanted to sing this piece 😭😭
But our choir can't take the challenge, it's such an extraordinary piece. I'm just obsessed with this song 😍
If you all sing to God and not to he congregation everything will work
@@chicketychina8447 But do not forget that we're not just there to sing for God but to also touch souls. Humans and God will not respond in the same way, if you sing not so good, God won't be bothered, as long as you're praising him, that would be enough for him. But for humans, if you're trying to touch people's souls with music and pass a message, if it's not presented well, it would sound like noise to them instead ))
One of the greatest compositions ever
Absolutely ! 💯
Well thank you for this video.Well done!! Music that brings me to tears! Thank you for your information! Greetings from Utrecht, the Netherlands.
You’re most welcome. One of my favourites, for sure. Stay tuned for more analysis!
This young man makes me very attentive to his explanation; his knowledge is so profound that makes me hanging for every word he says. For me, this is the most celestial piece of music ever written. My God, it’s so good to be Catholic.
Guys do you remember listening to this when no one did "reaction videos"? I really am happy people are analyzing this because it tells me that people are interested in it. Its such a wonderful piece.
It is so great
Could that young musical genius Mozart have transcribed this piece on one listen? Absolutely. There are actually only three musical thoughts in the whole thing, repeated over and over again with different words. The five-part choir sings one, which is fairly straightforward; then the chant, which any musician of that time could have sung in his or her sleep; finally the descant choir, with the high C (probably not written by Allegri, but who cares?).
The way I heard the Mozart story was he had a listen, transcribed it, then went to a repeat performance to verify his transcription and fixup anything that needed it.
And yes, people are somewhat convinced that the high part is transcribed too high somewhere along the way… but I guess it’s there to stay with us now. Only sad I can only get up to A₅ but that’s fine for a Ct I guess :D
It's the most insane and incredible piece I've ever sung... there's a lot of beautiful music and I've sung a lot of it, but this was the most beautiful piece for me... there's such a feeling in singing it...
As a mere "civilian" I just wanted to say how much I appreciate your videos. Thank you very much sir! (I really wish I could sing … I stopped after school and miss it!)
Thank you so much ♥️ Your support means the world and I hope you know how much your super like means to me!!!♥️
@@nickhiggsthesinger You're very welcome. I hope we see more of you - you are extremely talented and personable. 🤞👍
Technical prowess needed to nail this piece aside, above all, the feeling it evokes is truly what makes it the greatest piece ever.
Absolutely correct!
Have you listened to James MacMillan’s Miserere? His setting of the text takes Allegri’s and builds on it in the way on a Scottish Catholic could. Imho, it even surpasses Allegri’s.
I have not! I will check it out for sure. Thank you for the suggestion!
This song was one of the very first songs my first choral director showed me (Not to sing, just to hear), and it instantly take up my mind. That was six years ago, and I'm still waiting for the time to have the opportunity to sing this with a choir.
God speaks out of this incredible piece of music! 👏🏻👍🏻🙏🏻
I once read a comment by a confirmed atheist that if God really existed that this would be the music of Heaven. This piece takes one to a totally different place emotionally and spiritually. Thanks for this wonderful video.
Very well said, thank you!
It is a masterpiece. So beautiful
Love this, but i prefer with the boys choir. It’s a different sound, and feels unique and authentic.
I don’t know if I prefer it, but there are definitely clear differences. The tone of the boys choir gives it a bit more simplicity, more humbleness? Hard to put a finger on it.
The version I most often listen to is the Choir of Kings College Cambridge.
I agree. That high C from a treble is … indescribable.
True, we all know those Catholic priests love young boys.
@@papagen00 I see what you did here 😂
Heavenly music and performance
Absolutely 💯
Just learned hundred new things about singing, thanks 🙏
Amazing!
Nice introduction into this marvellous piece.
Many thanks!
Hey, Nick. Which part do you sing when you sing this piece with others?
Not surprised the basses sounded good. In this case, they had a very VERY good bass amongst the singers. Stephen Parham-Connolly (with ringbeard or whatever it is called in English), former bass with the King's Singers, joined the choir for this recording.
Of course they all sound amazing, even when Stephen isn't participating. But his voice brings an instant recognisable colour to the sound.
Fun fact: Nigel Short is a former King's Singers too, as countertenor. He and Stephen were colleagues.
Wow thanks for that! I didn’t know :)
Check out the rendition sung by A Sei Voce if you wanna hear how it might've sounded with the ornaments. The basses don't have to worry about the inappropriate A-flat. While the high-C version is beautiful, the versions with improvised ornaments have me sold. Early Music Sources has a super in-depth on the piece if you wanna find out more about this "Frankenstein" version.
Beautiful piece! Great Video!!
Thank you so much! Stay tuned for more
@@nickhiggsthesinger great! I’m more on the instrumental side of “classical” music, but I’m always excited to discover new choral works!
This piece is amazing, thank you for your input. Do you know where to obtain the score for it please?
As a matter of fact, Mozart memorized the whole piece. Moreover, he retained all the notes in his mind until late that night, when he finally had a chance to transcribe it. When he showed the transcription to his father, Leopold Mozart, the astounded man almost flipped. Firstly due to the prowess. Secondly, due to it was strictly forbidden. So, What did Leopold do? He went straight to the Vatican and told the truth. Far from punishing young Mozart, the Pope received him, and praised him as a "miracle of God". Mozart's fame skyrocketed throughout Europe ever since.
Mozart. The world’s first music pirate. Dude was the original OG.
@@FireDragonArmy2 And you are the world's biggest disappointment, folk. The term piracy only applies when the property taken is proclaimed as your own. Mozart evidently never intended such an act. Secondly, the idea of copyright did not exist back then. Moreover, Bach borrowed lots of music from Vivaldi decades before Mozart had even been born. Conclusion: Calling you a disappointment was clearly an understatement. Mozart is the greatest master composer of all times. Like it or not, admit it or not. Cheers!
and know about this song because of your performance, and it's amazing
I’ve performed it many times!
I sang it during my days in a boys choir. Maybe you’ve heard of it: the Kreuzchor (Crucifix-choir) from Dresden in Germany. It really is one of the most emotional songs I have ever sung.
listening to this makes me miss college choir so much🥹💕
Happy memories!!!
what makes me wonder more: where are the cameras and the microphones? and how did they record the wonderful sound.
They did a great job of recording this without it being obvious!
And the best performance I have heard.
Here is an even better description of how we got the current (highly altered) version of the Allegri Miserere. th-cam.com/video/j9y5N13un9s/w-d-xo.html
Wow thank you so much for sharing!!!!
I sang this many years ago as a treble, and managed the top C! I love this piece!
Good for you! Not an easy not for any singer, so well done!
@316 neil Lucky you to have had such a good treble voice. And no doubt you sang in a very good choir. It's a sublime work.
@@bahoonies Ha! I have no idea how I managed that top C, but I don't remember it being any effort. Certainly a good choir though, I was luckly to be involved, and it provided a musical grounding for the rest of my life really. I certainly can't manage high notes as well with my adult voice, I turned out to be a bass, though I sing baritone in a barbershop quartet. Work that one out!!
3:10 What about Mahler slow movements? Especially the 3rd symphony.
I would very much like to know in which church this was made.
That the final phrase would flow from minor and resolve in major makes perfect sense given the sequence of events during Holy Week.
I love this rendition of this song
Have you covered Talbot’s Path of Miracles? The performance by Tenebrae is one of the most stunning modern chorales pieces written.
Oooh I have not! I’ll add it to the list
Listen to their recording with Signum it gets even better. Also the Mozart story was said he went back a second time to complete the transcription.
I listened to this song in 2002 I was a young boy and I really loved it
I was privileged enough to sing this amazing piece for ten years In Holy Week back in The 19~70s
I agree with you!
Belíssima song!
Bravo!
Muchas gracias
There’s another you tube on line from the Marian Consort with Rory McCleery giving the history, myths, and mistakes regarding this piece. Quite interesting to hear him on the subject.
Try the Tallis Scholars live in Rome version, or the 1964 King's reading with Roy Goodman on the top line
Should have given a shout out for Ivor Atkins of Worcester Cathedral, and friend of Elgar, who wrote out the Miserere for choirs
Before then don't think anyone had heard of it
I believe the top C is the only one in the repertoire
Very difficult sometimes finding someone to reach it. For that reason often the piece is transposed down a tone or two
Im curious, what voice are you singing when performing this piece?
I sing Bass 1, or “baritone”
I wanna sing this with others sooo badly but it's so sad we don't have choirs from where I come from. :(
Before this video, the only performance that I'd heard was Harry Christophers The Sixteen. Based on a fallible memory, I'd say the the Tenebrae Choir did just as well. As for the Mozart story, I'd check the archives of the Vatican (easier said than done, probably) to see if there is any record of a meeting of the Pope and Mozart, that being a key part of the account. If Mozart was indeed called on the carpet as he needlessly feared, there may be a paper trail. And if that part of the story is confirmed, the rest of it seems likely.
I’ll check them out!
Great piece. Wonderful performance. 3:15 If you ever wonder why old the castles and the old chapels and the old paintings in them are all dark and muted... it's those damn candles! They look sweet and innocent, but after a few centuries of lighting by candles, everything is covered in soot!
I think you need to check out the kings singers, two of their former members are in the choir! The conductor and the older bass singer
I’m uploading a video in a few days with the kings singers!
There is not a MORE beautiful opening phrase in music.
There are EQUALLY beautiful opening phrases, certainly.
The entirety of musical genres demands that - and achieves that.
Thanks for explaining aspects of this piece, clearly. It always leaves me a tragic mess.
Hi Nick! I follow you on tik tok and just subscribed to you after finding you on here! Wonderful video! If you don’t mind me asking, I was wondering what religion you are and practice? Thanks!
Probably this is in the comments below, but this is the 3rd version/arrangement of this. It was created by a mistake in transcription from the older works in the 1800's. Apparently, there was no edict from the pope, but it was sung outside of the Sistine chapel a few times and Mozart might have heard it before. This choir for me sounds bigger than the dozen or so voices. Remarkable.
Your pronunciations are ON POINT, mah man!
Oh shucks 😍
It is to be supposed that Mozart had the audial equivalent to a photographic memory and that the story is true.
15:29 I learned recently learned that the usually heard version is not what was intended. Nevertheless, what we hear here (!) is beautiful in the extreme!
Such knowledge from such a young man! Blessings and peace sir.
Sang it with st thomas boys choir, its harder to perform than you might think but it’s gorgeous
Yes it is quite tricky to perform! Thank you for sharing ☺️
I truly honestly would love to know what you think of my piece 'Resonance'. Over my lifetime I've listened to music like this (and choral works from other periods like Fauré's 'Cantique de Jean Racine' and beyond) and have wished to write something even half as good as any of these great works. I humbly feel, hand on heart, that I may have nearly achieved my dream. Thank you very much for your video and breakdown / insights into this performance and the magic of its delivery. 🌷 Hello from Australia.
Hi Sally, I checked out your work. One word. Beautiful. I've now found you on Spotify so will enjoy listening to the complete pieces rather than the previews. Thank you so much for commenting - I would never have known about your superb work otherwise! Some of my favourite choral pieces from my Cathedral Choir days are Tavenar's "Hymn to the mother of God", Lotti's "Crucifixus" and of course Allegri's "Misere Mei Deus" - and now I can add Greenaway's "If I could". Hello from Perth, Australia!
Yes, I love Faure's Requiem.
This is one of five different classical choral pieces I enjoy ..
Funnily, the high soprano part is a cock up in the transcription. Once it was committed to paper, it was copied. Someone copied the soprano section but mistakenly transposed it an octave up. It proved very popular and it was kept.
There is a great documentary on TH-cam about the history of the piece.
So cool!
Italian musicologist Elam Rotem (Early Music Sources TH-cam channel) provides a detailed account of the post-composition evolution of Allegri's Miserere Deus; the version that we commonly hear performed now is not what Allegri originally wrote. He did not write in the notes for the solo plainsong bits, and it is now thought that performers have been using a different one to what he intended, for a long time. The key-change that results in the famous high C is the result of mis-transcription in the 1880's. Also it is important to bear in mind that Gregorio Allegri wrote this in the 17th century, by which time this kind of late-mediaeval polyphony was an archaic stylistic throwback to the times and works of Giovanni da Palestrina and Carlo Gesualdo.
Excellent. Thanks. J S Bach was very fond (too fond, perhaps?) of the Picardy third.
All Baroque composers used it regularly; it was "standard" for minor-key pieces. The cases where Bach DIDN'T (e.g., BWV 542) are more interesting. Also interesting are the many pieces with huge Plagal cadences built into the final cadence, e.g., where movement in G minor goes through C minor at its end to end on G major, best example (IMO) _Sei nun wieder zufrieden_ BWV 21.9. This is an outgrowth of modal practice.
Allegri is a great composer… but when it comes to poliphony I use to love the big spanish 4 (Alonso Lobo de Borja (versa es in luctum), Tomás Luis de Vicoria (responsories for tenebrae) , Francisco Guerrero, and Antonio de Cabezón)