Song of the Day

I used to post songs every so often.. I think I'll start doing that again.

When I was reading today, I came across an interesting story about Mozart.

A highlight of the Italian journey, now an almost legendary tale, occurred when he heard Gregorio Allegri's Miserere once in performance in the Sistine Chapel then wrote it out in its entirety from memory, only returning to correct minor errors; thus producing the first illegal copy of this closely-guarded property of the Vatican.

You can listen to it here.

He did that at 14 years of age. I could barely tie my shoelaces at 14.

Miserere Mei has been performed at the Sistine Chapel every Holy Week since 1630, and was never allowed to be transcribed or performed at any other time or place. Over the centuries, castrati had been used to sing the soprano parts, but obviously it is done by boys now.

I've visited the Sistine Chapel shortly after it was restored. It's a lot smaller than you would think. I thought that they really must have made a mistake because the frescos that Michelangelo painted appeared to be modern cartoons. Apparently they were painted with vibrant colors intentionally so that they could be seen from the floor of the chapel with only window light, instead of modern lighting.

It's rather awe inspiring to be in the same exact spot that a Mozart, and Michelangelo, and other brilliant historical figures stood and worked, not to mention the papal selections that have taken place over hundreds of years. If that doesn't give you goosebumps, nothing will.

It would seem that Mozart had a sense of humor;

For example, Mozart wrote canons on the words "Lick me in the ass" and "Lick me in the ass nice and clean" as party pieces for his friends. The Köchel numbers of these canons are 231 and 233 (their original German texts are "Leck mich im Arsch" and "Leck mich im Arsch recht fein schön sauber").

If you like Baroque era choral music, some more can be found here.