Choristers sing Allegri’s haunting ‘Miserere’ in empty St Paul’s cathedral

17 April 2025, 15:42

Allegri Miserere – St Paul’s Cathedral | Classic FM

The choristers of St Paul’s Cathedral perform Allegri’s ‘Miserere’ in its traditional two-choir setting, in the resonant acoustic of St Paul’s Cathedral exclusively for Classic FM.

Allegri’s Miserere is considered something of a musical miracle, that has survived not only hundreds of years of changing traditions, evolving religions and changing populations, but also the iron grip of the Sistine Chapel.

Composed by Gregorio Allegri, an Italian Catholic priest and composer writing in the 17th century, ‘Miserere mei, deus’ takes its lyrics from Psalm 50 (=Psalm 51) and was originally intended for exclusive performance at the Sistine Chapel during the Easter services.

It remains a well-loved piece during Holy Week to this day, and is often performed in the weeks running up to Easter Sunday. And a few weeks ago, Classic FM was given access to St Paul’s Cathedral to film an exclusive performance of it, at dusk.

For most of his life, Allegri was a chorister, music director, composer and priest in Rome. But his career really took off after 1629 when he served as a singer in the papal choir, during which time he composed a handful of motets – the most famous of which is his ‘Miserere’.

Read more: Did Mozart really transcribe Allegri’s Miserere after hearing it once?

Allegri composed the piece for two separate musical forces: one fuller choir which sings a harmonisation of the plainchant, and a second ensemble of four solo voices, who perform more agile rhythms and produce the famous high C for the top treble. The result is a breathtaking nine-part polyphony, at the end of which the two choirs unite.

Both choirs chant a plainsong melody, gradually bringing in harmony and soaring up to that high C from a brave solo treble voice.

‘Miserere’ was considered as exceptionally beautiful in its day, as it still is today. With its composer a member of the papal choir, the work was the property of the Sistine Chapel – and they were so protective over it, that the work could never leave the Vatican’s holy room. Chapel regulations forbid its transcription, and anyone who tried to copy the work would be excommunicated.

And yet, the piece began to appear in manuscripts in the 18th century. The most famous anecdote is that in 1770, a 14-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart arrived at the Vatican for Easter. Mozart was quite taken with Michelangelo’s celebrated chapel, and saw the historic secrecy of the score as a bit of musical challenge. When he returned to his lodgings, Mozart supposedly wrote the piece out from memory, perfectly and in its entirety.

As for whether that’s fact or fable, the jury’s still out. But it makes sense that with the piece’s exclusivity, came stories of mystique and wonder, and the ‘Miserere’ became known for its unwritten performance traditions and added ornamentation.

Enjoy the beauty of the performance above, and follow along with the lyrics below…

What are the lyrics to Allegri’s Miserere?

Miserere mei, Deus,
secundum magnam misericordiam tuam:

Et secundum multitudinem miserationum tuarum,
dele iniquitatem meam.

Amplius lava me ab iniquitate mea:
et a peccato meo munda me.

Quoniam iniquitatem meam ego cognosco:
et peccatum meum contra me est semper.

Tibi soli peccavi, et malum coram te feci:
ut iustificeris in sermonibus tuis, et vincas
cum iudicaris.

Ecce, enim in iniquitatibus conceptus sum:
et in peccatis concepit me mater mea.

Ecce enim veritatem dilexisti:
incerta et occulta sapientiae tuae
manifestasti mihi.

Tunc acceptabis sacrificium justitiae,
oblationes et holocausta;
tunc imponent super altare tuum vitulos.