Gregorio Allegri (2012)

Gregorio Allegri deserves better than for his reputation to rest on just one piece; alongside his iconic Miserere, which never fails to cast its spell on listeners, The Choir of King’s College London present premiere recordings of two of his five surviving Masses: Missa in Lectulo Meo and Missa Christus Resurgens.

Richly-wrought with consummate skill in the prima prattica of Palestrina, these glowing performances shed new light on a much loved composer. Born in 1582, Allegri an Italian priest, singer, and composer in the stile antico tradition spent much of his life working in Roman churches, joining the papal choir in 1629 and eventually becoming its Choirmaster. But it is for the Miserere that he is best known, a work so powerful that Mozart is thought to have written out the full score after hearing it only once, allowing him to circumnavigate the rule that prohibited anyone from removing any parts of the score from the Sistine Chapel, where it was guarded.

At the time of the recording, David Trendell (College Organist, Lecturer in Music and Director of the Chapel Choir at King’s from 1992-2014) was much in demand as a Choral Conductor. Now considered one of the finest mixed-voice university choirs in the country, performing music from the fourteenth century to the present day, the twenty-five choral scholars and two organ scholars bring great musical intensity to Allegri’s music in these luminous performances. Trendell’s scholarly acumen is also brought to bear with his own edition of Missa in Lectulo Meo performed here for the first time since the early seventeenth century.

Buy the Gregorio Allegri (2012) CD 

Track listing

Missa in lectulo meo 

1. Kyrie [6:44]
2. Gloria [5:10]
3. Credo [8:00]
4. Motet: In lectulo meo Pierre Bonhomme (Bonomi) [3:32]
5. Sanctus & Benedictus [4:35]
6. Agnus Dei [2:54]

Miserere [12:18]

Missa Christus Resurgens 

1. Kyrie [3:30]
2. Gloria [5:04]
3. Credo [8:28]
4. Motet: Christus resurgens ex mortuis [4:07]
5. Sanctus & Benedictus [3:09]
6. Agnus Dei [4:36]

Total playing time [72:15]