Miserere
Writer - Gregorio Allegri
First released - 2024
Original album - Nonetheless expanded edition
Producer - James Ford (?)
Subsequent albums - (none)
Other releases - none
"Love Is the Law," the final song on Nonetheless, includes at its conclusion an interpolation of an excerpt from this famed composition that straddles the late Renaissance and early baroque. The Pet Shop Boys decided to provide a more substantial interpretation of it on their subsequently released expanded edition of the album.
A deeply religious work—a setting of Psalm 51—its full title is Miserere mei, Deus, Latin for "Have mercy on me, O God." Italian priest-composer Gregorio Allegri composed it circa 1638. It quickly became and remains his most frequently performed composition. The Pet Shop Boys have, however, set aside its Latin lyrics and turned it into a densely orchestrated instrumental (despite its wordless "ah" vocals, some but not all of which I suspect are produced by the Boys' "Neilotron"), shortening and somewhat simplifying it in the process. It's a lovely piece of music and a delightful exercise by our musical heroes, even if it's not going to convert anybody familiar with more traditional and complete vocal performances of Allegri's work.
List cross-references
- PSB songs based on classical compositions (and some others with "classical connections")
- PSB "cover songs" and who first recorded them
All text on this website aside from direct quotations (such as of lyrics and of other nonoriginal content) is copyright © 2001-2024 by Wayne Studer. All Rights Reserved. All lyrics and images are copyright © their respective dates by their respective owners. Brief quotations and small, low-resolution images are used for identification and critical commentary, thereby constituting Fair Use under U.S. copyright law. Billboard chart data are copyright © their respective dates by Billboard Media, LLC.