Page:Selected letters of Mendelssohn 1894.djvu/58

44 Miserere, the keynote was B minor, and they sang “Miserere mei Deus” down to the “Misericordiam tuam” in unison, the solo voices and the two choirs joining in with all their vocal resources; then came in the basses “tutti forte” in F sharp, and on this single note gave as recitative the “et secundum multitudinem” down to “iniquitatem meam.” Immediately after that the soft harmony in B minor returns, and so it goes to the last verse, which is always sung with all the power possible. Another brief interval of mental prayer follows, and then all the cardinals scrape their feet loudly on the floor, with which the ceremony closes. My little volume says, “The noise signifies how the Jews took our Lord captive with great tumult.” That maybe so, but it sounds precisely like the drumming of feet in the pit when the play is delayed or fails to win favour. The single taper is now brought from beneath the altar, and by its light the congregation silently departs. I must say it is a marvellous effect when one steps from the chapel into the ante-chapel where a noble chandelier is burning, and the cardinals with their attendant priests pass between ranks of the Swiss guard through the blazing Quirinal. The Miserere given the first day was by Baini, and, like all his compositions, without a touch of life or power.

However, it had good harmony, and the quality of music which always makes an impression. On the second day they gave some pieces of Allegri’s Miserere, the other days pieces from Bai, and on Good Friday the whole was Bai’s.