And I'm M. and then Ereux. Sele Gumba, me, his ere jenen, his ere Israel. What you just heard was a small excerpt from a beloved piece of choral music known as the

Misererere medias.

Originally composed sometime in the 1630s, the Misarere is in the running as one of the most famous and mythologized pieces of church music ever performed.

This piece transposes the text of the biblical Psalm 51.

Misere Meadeus translates to,

Have Mercy on me, my God.

And it was created specifically

to be performed in the Sistine Chapel.

It was written for two choirs, one of four voices and another of five voices.

And what music scholars like to point out is that the

concluding passage is a beautiful example of what's known as

Polyphony. That is two or more different but harmonious melody lines being played or in this case sung simultaneously.

A well-developed polyphony is a very cool effect.

After its composition, the Misaree became a staple of the Vatican's yearly Holy Week services leading up to Easter.

But interestingly, the Mizare we here today

is likely quite different from the one originally

composed by Gregorio Allegri.

The Sistine Chapel Choir has a long tradition of modifying pieces and adding what musicologists

call ornamentations.

For instance, one of the most memorable moments in the misarere

is when the soprano reaches for an impressively high c note that seems to float over the rest of the

choir. Oh, Pretty cool, right? But the thing about that high C-note is that most experts believe that it probably wasn't in the original composition.

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