There are two famous works of music that have been surrounded in secrecy, the Enigma Variations of Sir Edward Elgar and the Miserere of Gregorio Allegri.
The secret within the Enigma Variations is that no one knows what the secret is and Elgar appears to have taken it to the grave.
The Miserere was cloaked in secrecy, sung from scores locked in the Sistine Chapel and only in the Sistine Chapel.
But Mozart and others transcribed what they heard so the piece became property of the world.
As a result there are many different versions of this work out in the world, different versions also because the ornamentation added by the singers was not written in the score and may have changed from performance to performance.
While this site provides links to many versions and information about this work, this site was inspired by a rather stunning version of the work done in English and sung by the King's College Choir, led by David Willcocks. It has been said that the 1963 recording by this ensemble is a perfect match between text and music, as if the work had been composed for the English text rather than its original Latin. But the English language score that has been said to have been the source for this recording, the Novello Ivor Watkins 1951 edition, is not.
There are major differences, differences that make the language of the King James Bible flow with an Italianate air. And these results are what brings about the flow and beauty of this work. The score of this 1963 performance has never been published. That English performance score has been kept secret up until now as a new singing edition has been released that follows the intent of this actual performance. View the score from the link above and purchase from the links on the left.
The purchase of a download or the printed version gives you permission to create as many copies as needed for performance of this work. Printed version owners are eligible to email us and get their own copy of the PDF of the download for easy duplication as required for performance.
Bulk purchases of the printed version will be available very shortly to those who want to buy printed copies of this score for each member of their ensemble.
The score is laid out to be sung straight through. The printed version is 8 by 10", the download a standard 8.5 by 11" in a PDF file. The size was chosen to make the score easily readable by all singers, even in reduced lighting, as is common in performances of this work during Lent.
Why has the original score of the 1963 performance by Sir David Willcocks and the King's College Choir in Cambridge never been published? Why wasn't it published by Oxford University Press. We can relate that this score was presented to Oxford University Press for possible publication but turned down because they already publish a version of the Miserere by Allegri, edited ably by John Rutter. Though music sites show it is in English and Latin, the score is in Latin with an English transalation below, but not set to the music.
A Sheet Music Plus LINK and a Music Room Link to the Oxford and other scores now in print.
noel jones, aago