An Interesting Fact About Mozart...
Mozart saved one of the greatest choral works from being forgotten forever. Mozart transcribed Allegri's "Miserere" in 1770, note-for-note, after hearing it only once as a 14-year old.
The piece of music was considered to be sacred, written for the Sistine Chapel choir over a century and a half earlier. Composers tended to guard their music jealously. One way to protect music was to not write it down at all, but to pass it on orally, from generation to generation. If the music manuscripts for Allegri's Miserere did exist, they were only circulated among the members of the Sistine Chapel choir.
The attempt to keep music private was foiled by this young kid who could simply write it all down after just hearing it once.
The piece of music was considered to be sacred, written for the Sistine Chapel choir over a century and a half earlier. Composers tended to guard their music jealously. One way to protect music was to not write it down at all, but to pass it on orally, from generation to generation. If the music manuscripts for Allegri's Miserere did exist, they were only circulated among the members of the Sistine Chapel choir.
The attempt to keep music private was foiled by this young kid who could simply write it all down after just hearing it once.
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