John Weeks Moore

“ Of all his works, the "Miserere" is the most distinguished. It was, for upwards of a hundred and fifty years, annually performed in passion week, at the pope's chapel, on Wednesday and Good Friday; it is in appearance so simple as to make those who have only seen it on paper wonder whence its beauty and effect could arise ; but it owes its reputation more to the manner in which it is performed than to the composition ; the same music is many times repeated to different words, and the singers have, by tradition, certain customs, expressions, and graces of convention, which produce great effects ”

“ Andrea Adami, in a work of his, mentions that "after several vain attempts, by preceding composers, for more than a hundred years, to set the same words to the satisfaction of the heads of the church, Gregorio Allegri succeeded so well as to merit eternal praise; for with few notes, well modulated, and well understood, he composed such as "Miserere as will be continued to be sung on the same days, every year, for ages yet to come ; and one that is conceived in such just proportions as will astonish future times, and ravish, as at present, the soul of every hearer." ”

“ The pontifical singers,
Anxious that those
Whom harmony united in life
Should not be separated in death,
Wished this as their burial-place.
Though his abilities as a singer were not very conspicuous, yet he was reckoned a complete master of harmony, and was in such estimation with the performers of his time, that he was appointed by the pope, A. D. 1629, to a situation in the choir of his chapel. His principal compositions are of a sacred and solemn description ”