CDA66439 - Disc 1 Track 4 - Miserere mei, Deus

Miserere mei, Deus

composer

author of text

Psalm 50 (51)

editor

George Guest (1924-2002)

Recordings

Hear my prayer
Jeremy Budd (treble), St Paul's Cathedral Choir, John Scott (conductor)

Play all extracts from this album CDH55445 Helios (Hyperion's budget label) July 2013 Release

Allegri: Miserere & the music of Rome
The Cardinall's Musick, Andrew Carwood (conductor)

Play all extracts from this album Buy by post £13.99
CDA67860 Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available

Exultate Deo
Westminster Cathedral Choir, James O'Donnell (conductor)

Play all extracts from this album Buy by post £13.99
CDA66850

The Music of St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral Choir, John Scott (conductor)

Play all extracts from this album Buy by post £4.99
SPCC2000 Super-budget price sampler

Details

Jeremy Budd (treble), Nicholas Thompson (treble), Wilfrid Swansborough (countertenor), Timothy Jones (bass), St Paul's Cathedral Choir, John Scott (conductor)

Track 4 on CDH55445 [13'35] Helios (Hyperion's budget label) July 2013 Release Copyright holder as reported by MCPS: Chester Music Ltd
LatinEnglish

Westminster Cathedral Choir, James O'Donnell (conductor)

Track 8 on CDA66850 [11'21] Copyright holder as reported by MCPS: Public Domain
LatinEnglish

The Cardinall's Musick, Andrew Carwood (conductor)

Track 15 on CDA67860 [12'35] Copyright holder as reported by MCPS: Public Domain
LatinEnglish

Jeremy Budd (treble), Nicholas Thompson (treble), Wilfrid Swansborough (countertenor), Timothy Jones (bass), St Paul's Cathedral Choir, John Scott (conductor)

Track 13 on SPCC2000 [13'35] Super-budget price sampler Copyright holder as reported by MCPS: Chester Music Ltd
LatinEnglish

Miserere mei, Deus

Gregorio Allegri (1582–1652) is perhaps best known for his nine-part setting of Il salmo Miserere mei Deus (Psalm 51) and for his connection with the papal choir where he became a singer (probably a tenor) under Pope Urban VIII. The Miserere has traditionally been sung in Holy Week every year by the papal choir. The music was a closely guarded secret and, prior to Dr Burney’s publication of the work in La musica della Settimana Santa in 1790, there were only three copies of the work outside the papal chapel. These were in the possession of Emperor Leopold I, the King of Portugal and the composer Padre Martini. Although there is no evidence to substantiate the claim, it is said that excommunication would be the fate awaiting anyone who made an unauthorized copy of the music. Mozart heard the piece at the age of fourteen and either made a copy of the work during or after an actual performance. Although there is no doubt that Mozart was a genius, such a feat of aural dictation might not be quite as difficult as may be imagined: structurally the piece is fairly simple, being a falsobordone chant in five parts. A second four-part choir sing abbellimenti which contains the famous top C, certainly something of a rarity in the seventeenth century. The musical material is repeated five times to different verses of the Psalm, and the final verse is sung in nine parts. The edition used on this recording was prepared by Dr George Guest.

Track-specific metadata

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Details for CDA66439 track 4

Artists

Jeremy Budd (treble)

Nicholas Thompson (treble)

Wilfrid Swansborough (countertenor)

Timothy Jones (bass)

St Paul's Cathedral Choir

John Scott (conductor)

ISRC

GB-AJY-91-43904

Duration

13'35

Recording date

19 July 1990

Recording venue

St Paul's Cathedral, London, United Kingdom

Recording producer

Mark Brown

Recording engineer

Antony Howell

Hyperion usage

Hear my prayer (CDA66439)
Disc 1 Track 4
Release date: June 1991
Deletion date: December 2010
Superseded by CDH55445
Hear my prayer (CDH55445)
Disc 1 Track 4
Release date: July 2013
Helios (Hyperion's budget label) July 2013 Release
The Music of St Paul's Cathedral (SPCC2000)
Disc 1 Track 13
Release date: July 2000
Super-budget price sampler

Hyperion Records