Charles Burney

The Present State of Music in France and Italy (2nd, corrected edition)

London: T. Becket and Co., 1773

Rome

mous Miserere of Allegri*. This piece,
which, for upwards of a hundred and fifty
years, has been annually performed in
Passion Week at the Pope's chapel, on
Wednesday and Good-Friday, and which,
in appearance, is so simple as to make
those, who have only seen it on paper,
wonder whence its beauty and effect could
arise, 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, cer-
tain customs, expressions, and graces of
convention, (certe espressioni e Gruppi)
which produce great effects; such as
swelling and diminishing the sounds al-
together; accelerating or retarding the
measure at some particular words, and