ard from his father of the jealous
guarding of this wonderful work by the Romans; how it was expressly
forbidden to be performed in any other building than the Sistine; and
how the choristers were under strict injunctions not to remove their
parts of the score from the chapel. His anxiety, therefore, to hear a
work of which the fame had spread throughout the whole of Europe, had
hastened his progress to the Holy City.

It would, indeed, be difficult to imagine anything more beautiful and
impressive than the singing of this wonderful _Miserere_.[12] It is
introduced into the solemn service called 'Tenebrae' (Darkness), during
which the six tall altar candles, by which the chapel is illuminated,
are extinguished one by one, until only a single candle is left, and
this is removed to a space behind the altar. Then, in almost complete
darkness, the _Miserere_ begins. A single voice is heard singing the
beautiful antiphon, as the short piece which ushers in the _Miserere_
is called; the sweet notes die away into silence--a silence so
profound that the listener hardly dares to breathe lest he should
disturb it. Then at length the first sad notes of the Supplication are
heard, like the softest wailing of an anguished spirit; they gradually
increase in force until the whole building is ringing with the
plaintive melody in all its thrilling intensity.

The solemnity of the service and the beauty of the music left a deep
impression on the mind of the young musician who heard it for the
first time. Leopold Mozart, too, was greatly affected by what he had
heard, and when they left the chapel to seek their lodgings neither of
them spoke a word. Once within doors, however, Wolfgang asked for pen
and paper, and, sitting down there and then, he wrote out the whole of
the _Miserere_ from memory. On Good Friday, when the work was to be
performed for the second time, he took his copy with him to the
Sistine, and, concealing it in his cocked hat, he made one or two
corrections in pencil as the service proceeded. It was not long before
the news of this extraordinary feat reached the ears of the Papal
musicians, and Wolfgang received orders to perform his version in the
presence of Christoforo, the principal soprano of the Sistine, who
could not conceal his amazement at finding it correct in every
particular.

No better introduction than this was needed to secure for Mozart a
cordial welcome at the houses of the great, and during their sta