Table of Contents

Introduction - Myth and reality
Part One: The 16th and 17th centuries
1. Context
2. Creation
3. Transformation
Part Two: The 18th century
4. Show business
5. 18th century sources 1 - Blainville and Mozart
6. 18th century sources 2 - The Paris and Manchester manuscripts
7. 'Con suoi rifiorimente, come si deve eseguire' - What the earliest ornamented manuscripts show
Part Three: The 19th century
8. The Papal Choir in the 19th century 1 - Giuseppe Baini
9. 19th century sources 1 - British Library Add. MS 31525 and related manuscripts
10. 19th century sources 2 - Alfieri's Il Salmo Miserere of 1840
11. The Papal Choir in the 19th century 2 - Domenico Mustafà
12. 19th century sources 3 - The Vatican manuscript of Domenico Mustafà
Part Four: Performing the Miserere in the 20th century
13. The current 'popular' version of the Allegri Miserere: the 'English Miserere'
14. Introduction to the editions
15. Aspects of performance practice 1 - Performing pitch
16. Aspects of performance practice 2 - Expression
17. Aspects of performance practice 3 - Performing forces
18. Conclusion
Part Five: Appendices, editions and notes
Bibliography

About the Author

GRAHAM O'REILLY is founder and conductor of the French-based Ensemble William Byrd, which recorded the Miserere from a late Vatican manuscript in 2000.

Reviews

This is an essential read for amateur and professional choral singers and directors, but [also] for music lovers, giving an inspiring insight into the complexities of musical transmission and the development of musical interpretation through the ages.
*Andrew Benson-Wilson: Early Music Reviews*

[An] absorbing volume. . . . [T]his book is a fascinating account of an institution as well as of the multiple transformations of a piece of music that in consequence of its textural uncertainties, as O'Reilly comments, has "only really existed within a performance context."
*The Consort*

It is the open and yet historically anchored attitude of the author that makes his approach so valuable and his book so worth reading.
*JOURNAL FOR SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY MUSIC*

Graham O'Reilly opens the door to amazing, and perhaps unexpected, ways of interpreting this iconic work. Whether you are a performer of this work or merely an appreciative listener, O'Reilly's text should be an important and illuminating part of your own journey.
*THE JOURNAL OF THE ASSOCIATION OF ANGLICAN MUSCIANS*

O'Reilly has produced a comprehensive and definitive account that asks and answers all the relevant questions about this extraordinary work. Most importantly, there is, for the first time, a convincing account of the Papal Choir's performance practice. The book should be compulsory reading for anyone intending to programme, direct, or perform this remarkable piece.
*JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL EARLY MUSIC ASSOCIATION*

O'Reilly writes in an engaging manner and tells the story particularly from the perspective of a performer and conductor.
*MUSIC & LETTERS*

Author and conductor Graham O'Reilly unravels the historical and musical threads in a meticulous and entertaining narrative.
*Opera News*

The entire story has now been told by Graham O'Reilly in an academically rigorous yet thrilling narrated and beautifully written book. There are parts of the story that might do service as the basis for a Netflix blockbuster.
*THE OLDIE*