Song of the day: Allegri, Miserere mei, Deus (Psalm 51)

Both this setting and performance of Psalm 51 are sublime and needed this week. — Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome. Image: Wikimedia Commons

I love all kinds of music, from Michael Praetorius to Hank Williams to Funkadelic to the Sex Pistols, but Gregorio Allegri’s setting of Psalm 51, Miserere (1630s), captures something so sublime and soul-stirring, it’s in a class by itself. No one has ever come close to it. It feels especially appropriate this week.

This gorgeous performance by Peter Phillips and the Tallis Scholars is from 1994, in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome.