"Miserere" was a piece composed around 1638 and was the last and most famous of the twelve falsobordons (a style of recitation occurring in music from the 15th to 18th centuries) used in the Sistine Chapel from 1514. At one point, transcriptions of the music were banned, and it was only allowed to be performed during special services in the Sistine Chapel. According to a story supported by family letters, Amadeus heard the piece during a Wednesday service. Later that day, he wrote it down completely from memory, returning to the Chapel on Friday to make minor corrections. After less than three months, Amadeus was summoned again to Rome by Pope Clement XIV, who praised his musical genius and awarded him the knighthood of the Order of the Golden Spur, naming him Knight of the Order of the Golden Spur. Previously, only Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck, a German composer of the Classical period, had been awarded such a decoration.
