0:00:02 > 0:00:04CHURCH BELLS CHIME
0:00:04 > 0:00:08This is Rome - the centre of the Roman Catholic world.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11Here, in around 1630,
0:00:11 > 0:00:16Pope Urban VIII heard Gregorio Allegri's Miserere for the first time.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18MUSIC: "Miserere" by Gregorio Allegri
0:00:20 > 0:00:27He found the piece so beautiful, he decreed it never to be sung outside the walls of the Sistine Chapel.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33Yet, today, the Miserere has become one of the most popular
0:00:33 > 0:00:38and recorded pieces of sacred music ever written.
0:00:38 > 0:00:43MUSIC: "Miserere" by Gregorio Allegri
0:00:43 > 0:00:47The story of how this piece escaped the confines of the Vatican
0:00:47 > 0:00:49and evolved over the next 300 years
0:00:49 > 0:00:51is as captivating as the music itself.
0:00:51 > 0:00:56It's a tale that involves Mozart, an obscure English music scholar,
0:00:56 > 0:00:58a choirmaster from Worcester,
0:00:58 > 0:01:01and a recording made here in Cambridge in the 1960s.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05They all helped to transform Allegri's 17th century original
0:01:05 > 0:01:07into the iconic work we know today.
0:01:07 > 0:01:11MUSIC: "Miserere" by Gregorio Allegri
0:01:39 > 0:01:43MUSIC CONTINUES
0:01:46 > 0:01:49Gregorio Allegri was born here, in Rome,
0:01:49 > 0:01:51in around 1582.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56From an early age, the Catholic church and its music
0:01:56 > 0:01:59had a huge influence on him.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02Although we know little about Allegri's early life,
0:02:02 > 0:02:07we do know from church records that in 1591, when he was about nine,
0:02:07 > 0:02:10he joined the choir of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16It was a time when the Catholic church
0:02:16 > 0:02:19was still at the height of its power.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22And, as head of state, the Pope wielded huge influence -
0:02:22 > 0:02:24not just on religious matters
0:02:24 > 0:02:28but over virtually every aspect of life.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32And this was particularly true of music, as, at the time,
0:02:32 > 0:02:37the Catholic church was by far the biggest single patron of the arts.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45Allegri grew up in a world dominated by the Godfather of Italian music,
0:02:45 > 0:02:47Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina,
0:02:47 > 0:02:50who, almost half a century before, redefined sacred music
0:02:50 > 0:02:54with his extraordinary masterpiece the Missa Papae Marcelli.
0:02:54 > 0:02:59This piece would have a huge influence on Allegri's own music.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05Harry Christophers and his choir, The Sixteen,
0:03:05 > 0:03:09have become world-famous for their interpretation of polyphony -
0:03:09 > 0:03:11which means many sounds -
0:03:11 > 0:03:14the style of music perfected by Palestrina.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16CHOIR SINGS:
0:03:28 > 0:03:32Palestrina had really developed polyphony, as we know it.
0:03:32 > 0:03:37It was his music that, really, the Popes revered.
0:03:41 > 0:03:45Allegri was brought into the sacred world of the Papal chapels
0:03:45 > 0:03:49and everything he did in the musical world had been under that influence.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57The young Allegri would have learned the intricacies of polyphony well.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59After his time as a choirboy,
0:03:59 > 0:04:02he became the pupil of Giovanni Maria Nanini,
0:04:02 > 0:04:04an intimate friend of Palestrina.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08He must have shown considerable talent because, at the age of 25,
0:04:08 > 0:04:12he took up a post as singer and composer at the cathedral in Fermo,
0:04:12 > 0:04:14on the outskirts of the Papal states.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18Then, in 1628, he returned to Rome.
0:04:18 > 0:04:23Following in Palestrina's footsteps, he joined the choir of the Sistine Chapel.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27It was at some point in the next decade
0:04:27 > 0:04:31that Allegri composed his masterpiece, the Miserere.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35It was written for the Tenebrae service,
0:04:35 > 0:04:38which means shadows or darkness,
0:04:38 > 0:04:42symbolising the extinguishing of the light of Christ.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46Performed only in Holy Week,
0:04:46 > 0:04:49at the end of a service dominated by simple plainchant,
0:04:49 > 0:04:53this haunting setting of Psalm 51 sounds particularly poignant
0:04:53 > 0:04:56in its spirit of humility and repentance.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00Harry Christophers has put together
0:05:00 > 0:05:04what he believes to be Allegri's original composition
0:05:04 > 0:05:08and it's much simpler than the version we know today.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12Well, this is from two manuscripts in the Vatican,
0:05:12 > 0:05:15dating from around Allegri's time.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17And so, piecing them together,
0:05:17 > 0:05:20we're pretty certain that this is what Allegri wrote.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24# Amplius lava me
0:05:24 > 0:05:36# Ab iniquitate mea
0:05:36 > 0:05:44# Et a peccato meo
0:05:44 > 0:05:51# Munda me. #
0:05:51 > 0:05:54Well, it's very simple, isn't it?
0:05:54 > 0:05:58It's incredibly beautiful and in its place in the Tenebrae service,
0:05:58 > 0:05:59it would be incredibly prayerful.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05CHOIR SINGS IN LATIN
0:06:11 > 0:06:15Allegri wrote his piece for two contrasting groups -
0:06:15 > 0:06:18a main choir and a solo quartet.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20Along with simple plainchant,
0:06:20 > 0:06:23they take it in turns to sing each of the 19 verses.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26Both choirs finally join together at the end.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29QUARTET SING IN LATIN
0:06:30 > 0:06:37But the version we know today is much more elaborate than the music Allegri actually wrote.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40Allegri's original was very much basic.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42It was bare bones.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46It followed on, again, from the fact that, in the Tenebrae service,
0:06:46 > 0:06:50it had become custom that at the end of the service
0:06:50 > 0:06:51you'd hear a piece of music.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55Up to that point, you'd had one bit of music - the lamentations.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59The rest of the service was plainsong and said,
0:06:59 > 0:07:03so this final piece of music was very, very special.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05QUARTET SINGS IN LATIN
0:07:14 > 0:07:18Even in its original form, which we rarely hear today,
0:07:18 > 0:07:22Allegri's Miserere still had a big impact on the Pontiff,
0:07:22 > 0:07:25when he first heard it in the middle of the 17th century.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28Pope Urban was delighted with the piece.
0:07:28 > 0:07:31He decreed that it should be sung only during Holy Week
0:07:31 > 0:07:34and never be heard outside the Sistine Chapel.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37Anyone who defied this decree faced excommunication
0:07:37 > 0:07:39from the Catholic church.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42CHOIR SINGS IN LATIN
0:07:46 > 0:07:48So, for almost a century and a half,
0:07:48 > 0:07:52Allegri's Miserere could only be heard here,
0:07:52 > 0:07:55in the Sistine Chapel, by a select few.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01The manuscript was never published and the piece could
0:08:01 > 0:08:03only be performed as a highlight of Holy Week.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07Thanks largely to Pope Urban's decree,
0:08:07 > 0:08:10Allegri's Miserere soon achieved legendary status.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15And the Tenebrae services featuring the piece
0:08:15 > 0:08:19became a must-see event for the wealthy on their grand tours of Europe.
0:08:22 > 0:08:28But in 1770, a precocious teenager dared to defy Pope Urban's edict.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31According to legend, this 14-year-old,
0:08:31 > 0:08:35having heard the piece only twice, went home and wrote it down from memory,
0:08:35 > 0:08:39thus creating possibly one of the first bootleg editions in musical history.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43It's astonishing to think that a teenager could remember
0:08:43 > 0:08:46with such apparent ease this long, 12-minute piece.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49But then, this was no ordinary teenager.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53This was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03At the time, Mozart was already famous,
0:09:03 > 0:09:07a child prodigy, he was on a European tour with his father,
0:09:07 > 0:09:11and he'd been mesmerising the nobility across the Continent with his astonishing talents.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14While in Rome, news of his elicit transcription
0:09:14 > 0:09:16spread across the city like wildfire
0:09:16 > 0:09:20and Mozart was summoned back to the Vatican by the Pope himself.
0:09:22 > 0:09:27The young Mozart must have known that he faced being banished from the Church.
0:09:30 > 0:09:34However, he was in for a surprise.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39Instead of excommunicating him,
0:09:39 > 0:09:42Pope Clement XIV, much to everyone's surprise,
0:09:42 > 0:09:45congratulated the 14-year-old on his musical abilities.
0:09:45 > 0:09:49Now, after 150 years and with tacit papal approval,
0:09:49 > 0:09:54Allegri's Miserere could escape the confines of the Sistine Chapel.
0:09:57 > 0:10:02Copies of Mozart's transcription were about to spread rapidly across Europe.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08A few months after he'd broken the papal edict
0:10:08 > 0:10:12and transcribed the piece, Dr Charles Burney, a British music enthusiast
0:10:12 > 0:10:16from Shrewsbury, went to see the young Mozart.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21Nobody is quite sure, but it would be nice to think that Burney
0:10:21 > 0:10:23got a copy of the Miserere from Mozart himself.
0:10:23 > 0:10:28Whatever happened, he brought a copy back to England, and in 1771, he published it.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30It was an instant hit, not only in Georgian England,
0:10:30 > 0:10:33but all the way across Europe.
0:10:36 > 0:10:37Over the next 200 years,
0:10:37 > 0:10:40there were hundreds of variations of the Miserere,
0:10:40 > 0:10:44each one moving further away from Allegri's original.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51Meanwhile, Mozart continued on his European tour, and shortly after
0:10:51 > 0:10:54his copy of the Miserere arrived in England,
0:10:54 > 0:10:56he came here himself, staying for a while
0:10:56 > 0:10:59here in Soho, in the heart of London's West End.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04By the time Mozart reached London,
0:11:04 > 0:11:07his European tour had proved to be a huge financial success.
0:11:07 > 0:11:12Perhaps breaking a papal edict even enhanced his reputation.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21During Allegri's time, and indeed
0:11:21 > 0:11:23when Mozart had heard the piece,
0:11:23 > 0:11:26the highest parts were sung by a very particular kind of singer.
0:11:26 > 0:11:31They were singers who had undergone a peculiarly barbaric surgical procedure
0:11:31 > 0:11:34in order to preserve their unbroken voices.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36They were the castrati -
0:11:36 > 0:11:40men who had been castrated for the sake of their voice.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51For just over 300 years, the castrati were the star singers
0:11:51 > 0:11:53in the Cappella Sistina.
0:11:57 > 0:12:02We have to remember, I think, that in the middle of the 1500s
0:12:02 > 0:12:05they relied on the quality of the castrato singers at the time.
0:12:05 > 0:12:10Remember that the choir consisted of... The top three voices were all castratos.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14Harry Christophers believes that the castrati embellished
0:12:14 > 0:12:17Allegri's original composition with their own flourishes
0:12:17 > 0:12:23and high notes, and that's the real reason why the work became so highly prized by the Vatican.
0:12:27 > 0:12:33Probably why there's this feeling that if Allegri's work was ever released out of the Sistine Chapel,
0:12:33 > 0:12:36that somebody would face excommunication etc,
0:12:36 > 0:12:40I think that was to do much, much more with the embellishments.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44They were the trade secret. It was those embellishments that weren't allowed to get out.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52One of the earliest accounts of a castrati singing the piece
0:12:52 > 0:12:55with the soaring high notes we know today
0:12:55 > 0:13:01came in the early 19th century from another famous musical figure, a German, Felix Mendelssohn.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06Quite apart from being a great composer,
0:13:06 > 0:13:09Mendelssohn was also something of a musical historian.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14He championed the music of many great composers
0:13:14 > 0:13:16and, after a trip to the Vatican,
0:13:16 > 0:13:20it seems he was also one of the first to note down Allegri's Miserere
0:13:20 > 0:13:22with the famous high notes.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27- THEY SING IN LATIN - Harry Christophers has been working
0:13:27 > 0:13:31with his singers on this higher version that Mendelssohn heard.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34THEY SING SOARING NOTES
0:13:44 > 0:13:47I actually really enjoy singing the piece.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51For me, it sits quite comfortably in my voice and I like singing high.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54The hardest thing, actually, is singing in the quartet
0:13:54 > 0:13:59because the hardest thing is getting the harmonies right and keeping the tuning between four of you.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03Although it seems as though the top C is the amazing thing that comes out of nowhere,
0:14:03 > 0:14:08the quartet are pulling together as a team to make sure that the whole thing works.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16This is King's College, Cambridge,
0:14:16 > 0:14:19home to one of the most famous choirs in the world.
0:14:19 > 0:14:23In the 1960s, they performed the new version of Allegri's Miserere,
0:14:23 > 0:14:26this time in English.
0:14:27 > 0:14:32It was written by Sir Ivor Atkins, choirmaster of Worcester cathedral,
0:14:32 > 0:14:36who had brought together many different interpretations of Allegri's Miserere,
0:14:36 > 0:14:40including extracts from Burney's and Mendelssohn's transcriptions.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45In 1963, Sir Ivor's successor at Worcester,
0:14:45 > 0:14:49who then became choirmaster of King's College, Cambridge,
0:14:49 > 0:14:51decided to record Sir Ivor's version.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54It would prove to be a phenomenal success.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58That choirmaster was Sir David Willcocks.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01Now, the big question that most people will want to know
0:15:01 > 0:15:07- is about the famous treble solo which goes up to a very, very high C.- Yes. Ah!
0:15:07 > 0:15:11This is Roy Goodman, who was a very good chorister. He came from Hull,
0:15:11 > 0:15:15in Yorkshire. I should think he was twelve-and-a-half, maybe 13.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18- So at the end of his career as a treble solo?- Yes.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21- An experienced boy. - We were all ready and waiting to go
0:15:21 > 0:15:25and Roy Goodman hadn't arrived. I thought, "Oh, dear! I'm sure I said four."
0:15:25 > 0:15:28But he arrived breathless about five minutes later.
0:15:28 > 0:15:33He said, "I'm terribly sorry. We had a rugger match today and I was captain.
0:15:33 > 0:15:38"I couldn't leave." And it was so good I couldn't believe it because it is a difficult piece.
0:15:42 > 0:15:44After its release in 1963,
0:15:44 > 0:15:50the record proved to be a phenomenal success, becoming a classic in its own right.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57For three-and-a-half centuries, Allegri's Miserere has changed
0:15:57 > 0:16:00and evolved as each new generation has interpreted it for itself.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03There's no way of knowing if that was Allegri's intention,
0:16:03 > 0:16:06but in any case, the piece has become one of the most popular
0:16:06 > 0:16:10and enduring pieces of sacred music ever written. And now to perform the piece,
0:16:10 > 0:16:13in its entirety, in Latin, with those famous high notes,
0:16:13 > 0:16:17is Harry Christophers and his choir, The Sixteen.
0:28:34 > 0:28:38APPLAUSE
0:28:49 > 0:28:53Subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:53 > 0:28:56E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk