Choral Evensong

3.30PM, RADIO 3

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. This solemn service from St John’s College, Cambridge, includes music and hymns that reflect this austere day – as well as one of the greatest pieces of sacred music ever written. Allegri’s Miserere was a jealously guarded Vatican treasure. The music was kept under lock and key; copying the work was forbidden. Clever young Mozart, however, attended the Ash Wednesday service in the Sistine Chapel, heard the Miserere, and then went home and wrote it all down, note for note. Hearing it live, as you can this afternoon, is an uplifting experience.