# Gregorio Allegri 1582 - 1652



## Taggart

Gregorio Allegri was a chorister at the Papal Chapel in 1591 until 1596, when his voice broke. He subsequently became a tenor at S. Luigi del Francesca for the next 8 years, and studied with Giovanni Maria Nanino from 1600 until 1607. In 1604, he was a Singer and Composer at Tivoli and Fermi, and then became Maestro di Cappella at S. Spirito, in Sassia, Rome in 1628. 6th December 1629 saw his appointment as a singer in the Papal Choir, until his death on 17th February 1652, aged 70.

It was for the Papal choir that Allegri wrote the famous Miserere, a psalm setting mainly in simple fauxbordon for two antiphonal choirs transformed by exceptionally high ornamented passages (which may in fact not have been by Allegri). Allegri also wrote fine polyphonic Masses in the idiom of Palestrina without continuo, and small-scale concertato motets in the modern manner for churches with limited resources.


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## JSBach85

Good to hear vocal works by Allegri other than his Miserere. I didn't know about Missa Vidi Turbam Magnam, I liked it, especially accompanied by plainchant as in polyphony should be. Thanks for sharing.


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## Manxfeeder

JSBach85 said:


> Good to hear vocal works by Allegri other than his Miserere. I didn't know about Missa Vidi Turbam Magnam, I liked it, especially accompanied by plainchant as in polyphony should be. Thanks for sharing.


Yeah. Allegri was doomed to be one of the first one-hit wonders, probably unfairly.


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## Josquin13

There's been so few recordings made of Allegri's 'other' music. I wonder why? Could the Vatican be partly responsible? I wonder if they've kept any of his 'other' music 'unpublished', as they once did with his "Miserere"? Or, historically speaking, have other collectors of Allegri's music followed the Vatican's example, and kept other works similarly 'unpublished'? For example, I see there is a CD recording of 'unpublished' Allegri works from the "Collectio Altæmps", performed by the group Musica Flexanima. Or, is it because early music groups generally find Allegri 'other' works to be mostly of a lesser quality?

The A Sei Voci disc, which contains Allegri's Missa Vidi Turbam, is the only CD I've ever heard of 'other' music by Allegri. It's also one of the few discs by A Sei Voci that I've liked. As it turns out they're actually fine singers, when they don't sing with their children's choir (which was one of the reasons why I didn't care for their Josquin series, unfortunately). By the way, it's been reissued (at a reasonable price), if anyone's interested:

https://www.amazon.com/Allegri-Mise...rd_wg=XRgGP&psc=1&refRID=0N4WVS8Y2CE6B91VGTR0
https://www.amazon.com/Allegri-Mise...d=1518979933&sr=1-9&keywords=gregorio+allegri

Other than that--apart from an old George Guest Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge recording of Allegri's "Missa Vidi Turbam" (on the Meridan label), I can only find three additional recordings of other works by Allegri. For starters, I'd be most interested to hear the The Cardinall's Musick sing Allegri's "Lamentations of Jeremiah":

https://www.amazon.com/Miserere-Mus...=1518980746&sr=1-19&keywords=gregorio+allegri
https://www.amazon.com/Masses-Motet...d=1518980949&sr=1-6&keywords=gregorio+allegri
https://www.amazon.com/Allegri-Unpu...=1518979615&sr=1-16&keywords=gregorio+allegri
https://www.amazon.com/Josquin-Desp...=1518981890&sr=1-11&keywords=gregorio+allegri

Has anyone heard and liked any of the above recordings"

As for Allegri's more famous "Miserere", the 1980 Tallis Scholars recording has long been one of my favorite discs by the group, and their Miserere was my favorite performance for several decades. The Palestrina & Mundy works are also very worthwhile (esp. the Mundy "Vox Patris Caelestis", another under recorded composer, who has me asking the same question--did he compose any other masterpieces?). By the way, it was the Tallis Scholars' first recording:

https://www.amazon.com/Allegri-Mise...78737&sr=1-1&keywords=gregorio+allegri+tallis

However, in recent years, I've come to like a Miserere performance from Magnificat, led by Philip Cave, at least as much (but don't bother looking for Volume 2 of this series, as it never came out).

https://www.amazon.com/Europes-Gold...=1518977648&sr=1-27&keywords=gregorio+allegri

There's also an excellent disc from Andrew Parrott and the Taverner Consort singing music of the Sistine Chapel, entitled, "Musica della Cappella Sistina" that includes a very beautiful rendition of the Miserere, along with other works that were 'privately' composed for the Pope's chapel:

https://www.amazon.com/Allegri-Sist...r=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=gregorio+allegri+parrott

Though I've not heard it yet, there's also a recent recording by the Sistine Chapel Choir in the Sistine Chapel (the first studio album ever recorded there), which evidently uses an "unpublished" and previously "unheard" edition of Allegri's Miserere. Could this be connected to the secret, unpublished Vatican score that the young Mozart once heard, memorized, & stole in the 18th century? Has anyone heard this recording?

https://www.amazon.com/Cantate-Domi...=1518978780&sr=1-12&keywords=gregorio+allegri


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## Taggart

Jacck said:


> Taggart, you found only 2 works by Allegri on youtube? I found one more in addition to Miserere and Misa Vidi Turbam Magnam
> Gregorio Allegri: "Opere Inedite dai Manoscritti della Collectio Altaemps"


Nice! Shame about the weird movie in the background. The CD it's from is

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Allegri-In...0&keywords=Musica+Flexanima+Ensemble,+Bigotti

:tiphat:


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