Ridon' hor per le piagge (Maddalena Casulana)

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  • (Posted 2017-08-22)  CPDL #46036:        (Finale 2012)
Editor: André Vierendeels (submitted 2017-08-22).   Score information: A4, 3 pages, 61 kB   Copyright: CPDL
Edition notes:

General Information

Title: Ridon' hor per le piagge
Composer: Maddalena Casulana
Lyricist:

Number of voices: 4vv   Voicing: SATB
Genre: SecularMadrigal

Language: Italian
Instruments: A cappella

First published: 1570 in Il secondo libro de madrigali a quattro voci, no. 1
Description: 

External websites:

Original text and translations

Italian.png Italian text

Ridon' hor per le piaggie herbett'e fiori,
esser non puo che quel angelic' alma,
non sent' il suon del' amorose note,
se nostra ria fortun' è di piu forza,
lagrimand' e cantando i nostri versi,
e col bue zopp' andrem cacciando l'aura.

Note: in the original, longer poem, of which this is the sixth verse, it is clear that the poet will be trying to catch the breeze in a net, and presumably the fact of being accompanied by a lame ox, bizarre though the image may be, would make the enterprise all the more futile. It may refer back to a poem by the 12th century troubadour Arnaut Daniel which says that securing his beloved’s favour is an endeavour as challenging as gathering up the breeze, catching a swift hare with a slow ox or swimming against the current. The breeze (l’aura) is also a pun on the name Laura, the unattainable woman that the author of this poem, Petrarch, paid homage to in so much of his writing.

English.png English translation

Now the meadows are gaily bedecked with grass and flowers:
that beguiling angel of a young woman whom I adore
surely cannot fail to hear
the strains of music, inspired by love, that are borne upon the breeze.
But if cruel fate has gained the upper hand over me,
I shall weep as I sing my verses
and with a lame ox try to catch the breeze.
Translation by Mick Swithinbank