This one has always reduced me to tears, the beauty is beyond this world, quite overwhelming.

I can only imagine the joy that the composer felt writing this piece and the power to provoke such deep, ethereal emotion...

what a proper way to ask for mercy, always touches the soul. The Lord bless you from Lebanon the Land of saints.

I’ve been lucky enough to sing the soprano solo in this fifteen times over the past ten years. It’s the highlight of my year. Thanks for bringing attention to this. I truly hope this reaches people who wouldn’t have otherwise heard it.

My soul loves this music. I am cleansed somehow just by listening to it. I was raised in the Catholic Church where I grew up in the Convents as a Ward of the State. This music reminds of the most private moments of reflection, where I found a joy within myself, during those many lonely years without my family. I felt absolute freedom and love. Even today at 55yrs, it soothes me. Like there is something bigger than ourselves and our circumstances. Something thats just Beautiful.

When I saw the notification for this video, I was really excited, I've been obsessing over this song for years. Btw, I love your thoughts and opinions on music :)

This piece, interpreted by the Tenebrae Choir, never fails to bring tears to my eyes and goose flesh to my arms. Absolutely sublime.

It gives me a feeling of solemnity with in a sacred space or act like when taking the Eucharist, it leaves me in a state of peace .

I can NEVER not cry when I hear this. The beauty?!!! Lyrics for those who are interested. Have mercy on me, God According to your great kindness And according to the multitude of your mercies, Erase my iniquities Wash me completely from my iniquities And cleanse me of my sins For I know my iniquities And my sins are always before me To you alone, I have sinned And done evil before you That you may be fair in your speech And justified in your judgement Behold, I was conceived in iniquity And in sin did my mother conceived me Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts And you teach me wisdom in the hidden places Purify me with hyssop and I will be clean Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow Let me hear your joy and gladness And my humble bones will rejoice Turn your face away from my sins And erase all of my iniquities Create in me a pure heart, oh, God, And renew your right spirit within me Do not turn me away from your sight, And do not take your Holy Spirit from me Return your gladness and salvation to me And uphold me with a willing spirit I will teach sinners your way And they will be converted unto you Save me from blood, God, God of my salvation My tongue will praise of your righteousness Lord, open my lips And my mouth will sing your glory Because you have not desired sacrifices For you don't delight in sacrifices, or I would do so Nor do you desire burnt offerings The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit A broken and humble heart40 God will not despise Do well before the Lord in your good pleasure to Zion And build the walls of Jerusalem Then you accept the sacrifices of righteousness In oblations and burnt offerings Then they will offer bulls on your altar.

It's an extraordinary piece of music, proven by its popularity almost 500 years after it's creation! No matter if you are a practicing christian or otherwise. It invokes a feeling of being part of something greater than oneself. I can vision this song echo into the universe as a requiem for humanity.

We all have the same Human Reaction because our Soul memory reminds us of the Angelic Heavenly Choirs that we all heard sung to the Great Glory to God when we were there and what we shall hear again when we go back.

Can't believe i had to wait all this time to see a vocal coach pick up this masterpiece. Glad it's you !

and... That high "C" part before during and after is done with one breath .... omg it has power it is cleanly executed and a dynamic range .. all in one breath.. i love this piece from beginning to end over and over again

The story of how this wonderfull piece of music got outside of the Vatican is as follows: a teen from Salzburg traveled to Rome with his father and heard Miserere preformed twice in the Sistine Chapel and wrote it down from memory, and when the pope heard about it he was so impressed he gave the teen a order of chivalry, the teens name was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. PS: Beth reacting to one of my all time favorite songs is the best belated birthday present :D

Beautiful. I’ve sung this with several very good chamber choirs, but Tenebrae are outstanding.

So beautiful. “Have mercy on me oh God.” Just beautiful.

Please do more exposure to beautiful choir music. This is so spiritual.

This is my favorite piece of music, every bit of this performance is stunningly beautiful

I think that this is one of the most perfect renderings that I've heard (I was watching it the other day, before I saw that you'd done a reaction video). From the first note I always seem to end up clutching my hands together on my breatsbone, almost as though I want to hold the music close to me. Back in the 1980s/90s, my late husband and I used to go on canal holidays with friends every year. I used to put a cassette on of this, and it would blast out as we went through the Harecastle Tunnel near Stoke-On-Trent. Being underground in a narrow, low, dark tunnel, with just the 60ft narrowboat's headlight, gives you time to think and reflect. Another favourite is 'Spem In Alium', sung by the Tallis Scholars.

Every single part of this song gives me chills, no matter how many times I listen

Easily the most beautiful piece of music written for the human voice! Can you imagine what complete hash unneccesary Autotune would make of this because there's bound to be a producer or engineer out there who thinks it's necessary!

First time i heared this version it gave me a shock of goosebumps, now i want to hear how it sounds in a church because it will give the song the most credit in such a beautiful place.

I'm not sad, I find myself at peace listening to this

Singers on top of their game. Every one of them is a phenomenal talent. So that helps, I've heard less moving versions, but this is perfect. Last thing I'd like to hear before I died.

Thank you that was beautiful. It brought tears to my eyes Beth. I also love Gregorian chants. Thank you again it touched my heart and soul, Rick!!!

When music is part of your life, you just see it and feel it different, and when you understand the complexity and the requirements, let's not say Talent, behind every piece, you just feel grateful with yourself for liking good music.

Thank you, Beth, for this reaction! One of my all-time-favourite pieces of music to listen to and to sing as well! It just stuns me every single time I hear it, an absolute masterpiece. Also a big fan of Tenebrae! It definitely is one of the leading ensembles/choirs in Europe. (Co-)Founded and conducted by Nigel Short, former countertenor of The King's Singers, now new musical home of Stephen Conolly, former bass of The King's Singers and other amazing vocalists. I would highly appreciate if you would react to more "Old Music" from time to time, it is a nice variety in the reaction community!

It makes me feel total grief and love for the magnificence of life and God. It's a miraculous download from the heavens. It is absolutely perfect.

📖 Get your signed copy of my album Fable here: www.bethroars.com/shop ☀ Pre-save my first single "Power Of The Wolf" on Spotify (it really helps me out!): distrokid.com/hyperfollow/bethroars/power-of-the-wolf 🥁 Become a Patreon Supporter: www.patreon.com/bethroars

Totally agree with you, that kind of song you don't want to clap at the end, though it is so beautiful, you want your soul to savour the moment of delightness that it has brings to your heart.

I love this piece. The laser purity of Tenebrae's tone is truly remarkable. I've had the opportunity to hear them live and cannot recommend the experience enough. Nigel Short's musicality is at an epic level (as are each of the members of this group) and I've followed his work since the King Singers days, fantastic. If the opportunity presents itself to see them live, GO.!

I love this video! Beautifully done by the choir and it makes me want to cry! Great job Beth!

So happy that you are looking at some late-Ren/Baroque polyphony, and particularly thrilled to see it performed in St. Bartholomew's. My last trip abroad before the pandemic included a visit to this gorgeous church. Please continue to do some early music now and then!

Don't care what your faith is, you can feel the spirit/higher power while listening to this.

I've been obsessed with this piece, specifically the Kings College Choir version, since I heard it in the soundtrack of the film _Maurice._

I was fortunate enough to perform this in the best choir i ever sung in several years ago, i still sing along with KZfaq at home. One of my all time favorite pieces!

It’s been my fave for so long and always leaves me in tears

Loved this performance, and heard it multiple times for a long time! Gives me chills every time. When I first stumbled onto it, I was also really surprised, because I recognized the high soprano singer - she's Josephene Stephenson, and I'd first encountered her years before, on a youtube channel called "peyrson", where she did some really lovely covers with another lady Agathe Peyrat. Well worth looking up, that channel, even though it's not been active in years. Love that you love this performance too! 😊 Oh, and Josephene's partner Agathe in that little channel doing covers went on to found a band called Inglenook and... do opera! Here's her doing Der Hölle rache (Königin der Nacht ) - Die Zauberflöte, Mozart: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qZ6WZrKls53RY6s.html The two had some really lovery harmonies in their early videos together, but I was really pleasantly surprised how they went on to greater things. From the Peyrson channel, their cover of "No Surprises" is a good example of what they did.

What does it make you feel? In tears for the home we are all away from.

The sadness in this piece doesn't come from thoughts about the plague, which was in the 1300s; rather, it's a song of penitence. "Miserere mei" means "have mercy on me": The song is the Latin of Psalm 51, a song of sorrow over one's sins, of asking for God's forgiveness, and of confidence that He will grant it to a anyone with a sincere heart.

Roars!!! I love it. Hey Beth, and community. I've watched a couple of reactions before. As a choir singer myself, this just brought so many memories back. I love this song, Loved this vid.

I imagine being a vocal coach hearing one of the most beloved skilled professional choirs in the world today must be near nirvana. Oh that young woman hitting that high note is so fantastic. So powerful yet so fragile at the same time. You feel that note in your soul, she hits it so good.

I'm no longer particularly religious, but this song and Tchaikovsky's Hymn of the Cherubim both instill an almost transcendent feeling whenever I listen to them. Love the analysis of this song

Have mercy upon me, O God: after Thy great goodness. According to the multitude of Thy mercies, do away mine offences. Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness: and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my faults: and my sin is ever before me. Against Thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that Thou mightest be justified in Thy saying, and clear when Thou art judged. Behold, I was shapen in wickedness: and in sin hath my mother conceived me. But lo, Thou requirest truth in the inward parts: and shalt make me to understand wisdom secretly. Thou shalt purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Thou shalt make me hear of joy and gladness: that the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice. Turn Thy face from my sins: and put out all my misdeeds. Make me a clean heart, O God: and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Thy presence: and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. O give me the comfort of Thy help again: and stablish me with Thy free Spirit. Then shall I teach Thy ways unto the wicked: and sinners shall be converted unto Thee. Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, Thou that art the God of my health: and my tongue shall sing of Thy righteousness. Thou shalt open my lips, O Lord: and my mouth shall shew [show] Thy praise. For Thou desirest no sacrifice, else would I give it Thee: but Thou delightest not in burnt-offerings. The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God, shalt Thou not despise. O be favourable and gracious unto Sion: build Thou the walls of Jerusalem. Then shalt Thou be pleased with the sacrifice of righteousness, with the burnt-offerings and oblations: then shall they offer young bullocks upon Thine altar.

Don't know much about music... but do understand how a professional like you explain it, thank you !! This is one of my favourites ! I simply cry everytime I listen to this piece...Lord , I'm a sinner....toiling in a sinful world , in a valley of tears !!!

So moving and it grips the heart….wonderful….thank you…..

I listen to this often at night to help me sleep. It's so beautiful. The Clare college performance of this is amazing too.

It brings me joy and to tears listening to this song and just makes me want to go on my knees and pray to our lord and ask for forgiveness for any wrong doing that I have done.

What does it make me feel? Reverence. The stillness you mentioned feeling when the piece concludes reminds me of 'savasana' from yoga; after all the movement you lay on your back and the mind is able to much more easily enter a place of calm quiet stillness for having performed all the movement beforehand.

The room is as much a part of this as the vocalists are.

"What does that make you feel?!" - Respect.Skill is evident.

So beautiful, with emotional Power to it. I love this song.

it makes me cry, thank you

Stunning & beautiful.. the reverb gives you goosebumps. I don’t think it’ll make my gym playlist, but it’s awesome all the same 😊

So glad you examined this favorite of mine! Adding to the sadness of the era, this was written for Holy Week (Thursday) mass on the Cistine - the most somber part of the liturgixal year. I believe it's arranged for two chamber choruses plus the quartet with the soaaaring soprano, who all join together at the end. The high soprano certainly hit that highest note, but I thought you might comment on how she got there (throwing mouth wide open, tightening face & throat) and the impact on the resulting sound losing its round, controllef shape for a wide, flat sound (to my ear). I've compared to other recordings and the difference becomes apparent. Hate to pick at this, though, when the performance is so spot on gorgeous and deeply moving.

Truly beautiful. Doesn't even need any religious context. To every human being this music would be soothing. There seems to be specific tones and rhythms that are genetically built into us to cause a metaphysical reaction. And they took advantage of this perfectly more than 450 years ago. Astounding.

I didn't even got notified or didn't notice you'd do a reaction to this ^^'. This is such a beautiful classic piece, one of my absolute favourites. Neal Stephenson mentioned it in his book "Seveneves" and that is the only reason I got to discover it (despite actually liking a lot of choral and orchestral, classical and sacral stuff, I've never heard of that song prior to reading the book) I always liked the melancholic, almost wailing melody line, don't know why but this piece always calms me down and helps me vent negative feelings (which I'm usually quite horrible at, I tend to bottle up on them instead), also the sound quality in that cathedral, wow 🤩 Always liked that in the cathedrals and churches I went to and this one really got superb sound, too. Oh, and I don't know why, but this piece also somehow reminds me of some of the big battle scenes in the Peter Jackson LOTR trilogy when the sounds of the fight itself drop out and there's only the choral or soloist vocal pieces are to be heard - maybe a weird comparison, but those are what this piece makes me think of.

Just like how Prometheus brought fire to man, Mozart brought this to the rest of the world. What a guy.

Excellent review! Thanks!

i would be very interested in a translation ( i can find one, I'm sure) but I agree 100% that it makes you feel SOMETHING. The language (Latin?) is not my native tongue, but the performance said what the lyrics surely intended. and 600% on the recording itself! the engineer did it exactly right and you couldn't even tell there was an engineer! Bravo to everyone involved in this production. And thanks to you, Professor Beth, for introducing me to another spectacular piece of musical art.

Salmo 51 1 Tem amisericórdia de mim, ó Deus, segundo a tua benignidade; apaga as minhas transgressões, segundo a multidão das tuas misericórdias. 2 Lava-me completamente da minha iniquidade, e purifica-me do meu pecado.

This song evokes sorrowful hope. Of acknowledging my own iniquity and shortcoming, crying out to be forgiven and washed clean with the knowledge that it is done. That forgiveness is offered and the slate is wiped clean. There was a cost to that, but it was required to be paid. In the dark stillness and waiting, light will return to the world.

Great video! I'd never thought about the effect of vibrato like that before. On a side note: I'd recommend 'Spem in alium' by Thomas Tallis. To listen to it is pure time travel :-)

For me the Miserere when done/recorded well is the closest music has come to perfection and the nearest thing to the secret chord.

Perhaps these high notes raised out of the choir symbolizes the extasis of knowing that God can and will forgive a contrite heart, in this case David's.

The beauty of Catholic music. All glory be to the King of Kings

One of my favorites. So good!

That's what I call pure teamwork :)

Chant and Madrigal singing is always wonderful. There was a band back in the 60s called Steeleye Span. They were one of my favorite bands at the time. They took songs from the 1400s to 1700s and added a rock sound to them. The songs were not always religious songs, although they did some of those as well. So often we think of music from that period as religious only, but people also sang in pubs and fields as well. The harmonies were amazing. They continue to perform today. I would suggest the song All Around my Hat as a great place to start with them. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/aeCqqsWK3ty7mYk.html

I've been following your channel for years, and i can't believe you reacted to this song. Tenebrae is made of the best vocalists in the world, but also Sahar Brightman... You are approaching the pinnacle of what music is ( as a form of art ). You are the best there is. I take my hat off to you.

I have tears in my eyes when I hear Sharon, Anneke or Floor, no matter how many times I hear their songs, but here I cry

Great reaction and analysis, as always. It's a beautiful piece and this performance is just stunning, but without the context, I don't know that I would have realized that it was intended to be a sad piece. After watching this video, I listened to the original video, with my eyes closed, to see what emotional impression it gave me and, for the most part, it sounded like a very pretty piece of worship music. More than anything else, it gave me a very open feeling of awe and wonder. A lot of this may be due to the very major-leaning tonality. In the last minute or so, there was this intense, heart-wrenching sense of sadness, but then it resolved on a big, major chord that kind of took the wind out of that sad section and returned to the original feeling. Either way, it's an amazing piece of music. I hadn't heard of Allegri before, thank you for introducing me to his work. I'm definitely going to have to listen to more of it.

it is an amazing piece of music. I am lucky enough to be in a cathedral choir (exeter cathedral chorister) which sang this it sounded amazing! and the most incredible part is it is from years THREE TO EIGHT!!! so girls and boys from about 7 - 13 and yet it still sounded so beautiful, which proves age is just a number. the soloist is in year eight and honestly I think she possibly (not to brag) did better than that soloist I feel she had more warmth and shape.

For the time of the composition, circa 1630, this kind of polyphonic choir (renacentist) was considered antique, and the ornamentations was not annotated. This thing add a veil of mystery to this song. Improvised ornamentations and cadenzas were common during Renaissance and Baroque periods, like a guitar solo in a rock concert

Our modern lives are awash in music of all kinds. You asked what I feel when hearing this piece. I feel just the slightest bit of envy for the experience the original listeners had - nothing in their daily experience would come close. Surely some would have considered this music supernatural. On a technical note, would some parts have been sung by castrati back in the day? Talk about...um...supernatural.

It's a song pleading for mercy from the Grace of God for when we f#cked up on an epic way. We've all been there.......

Specifically, this piece was written for Tenebrae during Holy Week. Research a little bit about the significance of Tenebrae (specifically before the 1960s when there was an upheaval in catholic liturgy that led to the loss of many things AND the significance of many things that were allowed to remain). Anyway, when people know what Tenebrae is and was... everything that you said so well about this piece takes on an even deeper significance. Thanks for putting this video up.

Listened to this being performed by the cathedral boys choir at the cathedral in Durham, UK. Exquisite. The reverb in those buildings is unreal. Seems like the notes would hold for a good five seconds after cut off.

This is an exquisitely beautiful piece, exquisitely performed. Every part is SO exposed throughout the entire piece, not just in the smaller antiphonal choir and solos (THAT HIGH C!, she sounds almost like a pure sin wave), but the main choir. NIgel Short was a former King Singer. If you've never done a reaction on any of their work, I would highly recommend one. Like these folks their a Capella mastery is almost beyond belief. You can listen to any aspect exclusively on any piece, timing, pitch, dynamics, entrances and cutoffs, arrangements, any and every aspect, and they are all performed to perfection. YOU can probably do all that coincidentally, but I'm not a professionally trained musician. Yes, the sequential movements throughout the piece are so beautifully arranged temporally and chordally, it gives me the feeling of a journey, or a reaching toward ultimate beauty. Surely you've heard it, but on the other extreme is Thomas Tallis eight choir 40 piece work, Speminalium (sp?). The King Singers did a composite recording of that, looped if you will, and their discussion of the process on a YT video I saw was fascinating. So was the theme as each one discussed it while the project was going on of, more or less, this should be glorious (or they hoped it would be), or not, one of the two, if you catch their drift. I remember one of our choir directors saying anybody sounds good in those cathedral environments. He was PARTIALLY kidding obviously, but it truly is the ultimate acoustic, ESPECIALLY for the music written specifically to be sung there, and any choir does sound very, very good performing there. When you sing like these guys and gals, for a piece like this, it is a REQUIREMENT, IMO. I heard a recent organ recital in a cathedral like this with an absolutely spectacular organ. You could also tell that piece (Bach, Toccata and Fugue in D minor) was written with a cathedral performance in mind. It changed the tempos tremendously, with the opening legato and sustains played VERY slowly to accentuate and work within that gloriously sustained reverberation, in some cases waiting for the reverberation to completely, or nearly completely die out before entering the next phrase. And he played the faster more intricate parts, some of them, quite quickly. The individual notes became somewhat less prominent compared to the mixing up that occurred in all of that delightful caressing and shaping by the space, but the secondary mixed sounds were something else. It is a different work heard there, and life giving. I hope that was not waxing too poetic, but what can I say, that is how it 'hit me', and I was just reading some Michael Chabon, who puts me to utter shame, but inspires nonetheless. That performance is on YT, but I cannot remember the specific organist and cathedral, sorry. One excellent analog to the breathing control I heard from an excellent soloist was to picture fishing. The breathing in is the cast, could be longer term or staccato quick for a very short cast, then reeling the business end of the kit back in, varying the speed and length as necessary, etc. How does that recording make me feel? Even though I am no longer religious, as such, isn't that obvious? It makes me feel worshipful, wrapped in beauty. If there is a heaven, and there are angels, and they do sing (not exclusively with a harp, I hope. :-/ ) this has to be at least tickling the underside of that sound, but here on Earth. Thanks for mixing it up a bit and doing something from antiquity, I would bet a fair number of your viewers have never listened to music like this, and this could inspire some of them to listen to a lot more of it. :-) Music like this has lasted for centuries for a reason! And it is even more special to sing some of it, even though, in most all cases, it doesn't sound remotely like this. Yeah, without all the frilliness I could have written that with about half the verbiage...such is life, in the morning.

This is a great version but I have to say the Kings College clip from about 8 years ago is stunning. The melodic parts that intertwine are incredible, worth finding

The original Miserere written by Allegri in the 17th was actually without the high C and other ornaments which was added in the 19th century version.

hearing this always brings me to weep

This is the song I want to hear when my time comes and *fingers crossed* I reach the pearly gates

5:25 That "intertwining" of melodies you talked about reminds me of God Only Knows by Brian Wilson/the Beach Boys. Another genuinely beautiful piece of music.

I wish I had the ability support longer tones, like the highly-trained younger singers in my church choir do. Neverthless the combined effect of singing in a choir is like none other and it's worth making the effort to do your best. When you listen to this work and these singers it touches your soul. In our era we have had our own troubles that music addresses like nothing else.

The arts of this period interweave with one another. Architecture, stained glass, statuary and music seem to be larger than life because of it. A transport to another time and place...✝️

Yessss thanks you for the video/reaction

Its amazing how you managed to give so much insight on whats happening here even tho its really out of the ordinary in today's music

this is the music i am waitng for. Thx for reaction. I heard this chorus two years ago,an i love it. Can you react to more ancient music? i would love it.

Great piece to discuss! I first heard it during a liturgical service, in a church with good acoustics. The lighting in the church was subdued, and the scent of incense was in the air. The choirs were spatially separated, so you got the full effect of the antiphonal singing. And it didn't hurt that the singers were excellent. One aspect I would add to your discussion of the emotional evocation of the Allegri Miserere is the text that's being sung, and its liturgical context. It's Psalm 51, a penitential psalm, and it's intended for use in Lent and Holy Week. the most austere and penitential season of the church year. Allegri certainly brought the temper of his times to his composition, but the text and context also call for a subdued, reflective piece of music.

It makes me feel that it is a gateway to God. It's a sublime Communion with the heavenly. It's proof that beauty comes spiritual connection with our Creator.

It is amazing, the soprano on the left seems to be incomparably blessed. Nice to hear your comments.

Great piece and recording. Tge director, Nigel Short, was once a countertenor withe The Kings Singers.

There is a KZfaq channel called Common man and there is a group of I think people from India got introduced to this song and even those guys not knowing what they are listening to got got the point that music is connecting people regardless their ethnicity or even century

Really enjoyed your insight and analysis. Makes me appreciate it so much more especially knowing why vibrato isn’t used in this arena. There’s one version of this song where the soprano does use vibrato and I must say…it was beautiful yet distracting. It felt like it didn’t belong! Thanks again Beth. 🙏🏼

It’s the 51st Psalm in Latin and I imagine hearing this when Jesus Christ comes back. Domine Iesu Christe fili dei miserere mei.

Great pick.

Beth. Thanks for this. My choir is just learning this at present. I’m a tenor and will be singing the solo plainchant. It helps to understand the words of the miserere which is Psalm 51 (sometimes designated as Psalm 50) which is one of the penitential psalms.

The control absolutly gets me.

Beth, you have to hear this done by The Machine in the Garden - it's incredible!