Yes, I know. It’s supposed to be Music Tuesday, but today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, and I wanted to commemorate it with a perfect music piece for the day. It’s Gregorio Allegri’s Miserere mei, Deus, a polyphonic choral piece composed around 1638. Wikipedia explains it better than I can.
Miserere (full title: Miserere mei, Deus, Latin for "Have mercy on me, O God") is a setting of Psalm 51 by Italian composer Gregorio Allegri. It was composed during the reign of Pope Urban VIII, probably during the 1630s, for the exclusive use of the Sistine Chapel during the Tenebrae services of Holy Week, and its mystique was increased by unwritten performance traditions and ornamentation. It is written for two choirs, of five and four voices respectively, singing alternately and joining to sing the ending in 9-part polyphony.
You can read the history of the piece in that Wikipedia entry. It’s interesting.
So
this is the penitential 51st psalm set to song, and one that should
be prayed repeatedly during Lent. This
rendition, conducted and arranged by Edward Higginbottom is just stunningly
beautiful.
The
lyrics are listed but I’ll present them here.
First in Latin.
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 justificeris in sermonibus tuis, et vincas cum
judicaris.
Ecce enim in
iniquitatibus conceptus sum: et in peccatis concepit me mater mea.
Ecce enim veritatem
dilexisti: incerta et occulta sapientiae tuae manifestasti mihi.
Asperges me hysopo, et
mundabor: lavabis me, et super nivem dealbabor.
Auditui meo dabis gaudium
et laetitiam: et exsultabunt ossa humiliata.
Averte faciem tuam a
peccatis meis: et omnes iniquitates meas dele.
Cor mundum crea in me,
Deus: et spiritum rectum innova in visceribus meis.
Ne proiicias me a facie
tua: et spiritum sanctum tuum ne auferas a me.
Redde mihi laetitiam
salutaris tui: et spiritu principali confirma me.
Docebo iniquos vias tuas:
et impii ad te convertentur.
Libera me de sanguinibus,
Deus, Deus salutis meae: et exsultabit lingua mea justitiam tuam.
Domine, labia mea
aperies: et os meum annuntiabit laudem tuam.
Quoniam si voluisses
sacrificium, dedissem utique: holocaustis non delectaberis.
Sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus: cor contritum, et humiliatum, Deus, non despicies.
Benigne fac, Domine, in
bona voluntate tua Sion: ut aedificentur muri Ierusalem.
Tunc acceptabis
sacrificium justitiae, oblationes, et holocausta: tunc imponent super altare
tuum vitulos.
English translation
(Douay Rheims)
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to thy great mercy.
And according to the
multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my iniquity.
Wash me yet more from my
iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my iniquity,
and my sin is always before me.
To thee only have I
sinned, and have done evil before thee: that thou mayst be justified in thy
words and mayst overcome when thou art judged.
For behold I was
conceived in iniquities; and in sins did my mother conceive me.
For behold thou hast
loved truth: the uncertain and hidden things of thy wisdom thou hast made
manifest to me.
Thou shalt sprinkle me
with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed: thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made
whiter than snow.
To my hearing thou shalt
give joy and gladness: and the bones that have been humbled shall rejoice.
Turn away thy face from
my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
Create a clean heart in
me, O God: and renew a right spirit within my bowels.
Cast me not away from thy
face; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy
of thy salvation, and strengthen me with a perfect spirit.
I will teach the unjust
thy ways: and the wicked shall be converted to thee.
Deliver me from blood, O
God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall extol thy justice.
O Lord, thou wilt open my
lips: and my mouth shall declare thy praise.
For if thou hadst desired
sacrifice, I would indeed have given it: with burnt offerings thou wilt not be
delighted.
A sacrifice to God is an
afflicted spirit: a contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Deal favourably, O Lord,
in thy good will with Sion; that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up.
Then shalt thou accept
the sacrifice of justice, oblations and whole burnt offerings: then shall they
lay calves upon thy altar.
Perhaps
you can visit this choral several times during Lent. The lyrics are part of the video. You can pray it as you listen.
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