e imperla il dolce gielo, making pearls of the dewdrops
e gli alti monti indora. and gilding the high mountains.
O bella e vagha Aurora, O beautiful, gentle dawn,
L'aura è tua messaggiera e tu de l'aura the breeze is your herald
ch'ogni arso cor ristaura. which comforts every burning heart.
– Monteverdi
A vignette of a lovesick man bemoaning his grief to the stars, Sfogava con le stelle,
with a text by Ottavio Rinuccini, comes from Monteverdi’s Quarto libro de madrigali,
published in 1603. Interspersed with traditional sophisticated counterpoint are early
examples of stile rappresentativo: rhythmic declamations of words and phrases
in a natural rhythm, dictated by the cadence of speech more than by note values
or counterpoint. An outgrowth of sacred monotone chant, this compositional
style was the precursor to operatic recitative. The penultimate “la fareste col vostr’
aureo sembiante pietosa” (“by your golden appearance you’d make her merciful”) is
repeated – or chanted, more appropriately – three times in supplication, contrasted
with the surrounding measured sections. The stressed second syllable of “pietosa,”
followed by a melodic descent on the last syllable is especially poignant. It is echoed
make me love her”) that closes the song.
Sfogava con le stelle
un infermo d’amore venting to the stars
sotto notturno ciel il suo dolore. his grief, under the night sky.
“O imagini belle "O beautiful images
del’idol mio ch’adoro, of my idol whom I adore,
sì com’a me mostrate just as you are showing me
mentre così splendete her rare beauty
la sua rara beltate, while you sparkle so well,
così mostraste a lei so also demonstrate to her
i vivi ardori miei: my living ardor:
la fareste col vostr’ aureo sembiante by your golden appearance you'd make her
pietosa, sì come me fat' amante.” merciful, just as you make me love her."
|