Music Man

The post the other day about the Church banning the "Devil's interval" brought to mind the story about Allegri's Miserere.  This is the only piece of music for which Gregorio Allegri (1582-1652) is now known, but it is so ravishing (and I don't think even today that is too strong a word - you can only imagine the effect it had on 17th century ears) that the Vatican decreed that it was not to be performed outside the Vatican, nor copied, on pain of excommunication.  The story goes that the young Mozart (then about 12 years old) heard it performed in the Sistine Chapel in around 1770 and went away and wrote it out from memory.  Whether it was as a result of this or not I don't know, but certainly the Papal ban was lifted soon after. But it is yet another example of the power of the medieval Church.