“The Renaissance Roots Revival: Arcadelt`s Primo libro at Forty”

Arcadelt’s Bemban Legacy: “Quand’io pens’ al martire”
Paul Harris ([email protected]) University of Puget Sound
Annual Meeting of the American Musicological Society of America, 1 Nov 2012
Fig. 1: Titian: Cardinal Pietro Bembo, ca. 1540 (National Gallery, Washington D.C.); Raphael:
Pietro Bembo, ca. 1504 (Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest)
Fig. 2: Texts and translations of “Quand’io pens’ al martire” and “Yo pienso si me muriesse”
Quand’io pens’ al martire,
Amor, che tu mi dai gravoso e forte,
corro per gir’ a morte,
così sperando i miei danni finire,
When I consider the torment,
Love, that you inflict, so grievous and strong,
I run to encounter death,
hoping thus to end my pain;
ma poi ch’io giung’ al passo,
ch’è port’in questo mar (d’ogni) pien di
tormento,
tanto piacer ne sento,
che l’alma si rinforza, ond’io no’l passo.
but when I reach the threshold
of that haven of peace in a sea of sorrows,
I experience such joy
that my heart regains its strength, I do not pass
onwards.
Così’l viver m’ancide,
Così la morte mi ritorna in vita;
o misera infinita,
che l’un’apport’ e l’altra non recide.
Thus living is death,
but death returns me to life.
O infinite wretchedness
which the one brings and the other will not
remove.
(trans. Decca, 1996)
Yo pienso si me muriese
y con mis males finase desear,
Tan grande amor fenesciese
que todo el mundo quedase sin amar.
Mas esto considerando,
mi tarde morir es luego tanto bueno,
Que devo razon usando
gloria sentir en el fuego donde peno.
I think were I to die
and with my wealth of pain
cease longing, such great love to deny
could make the world remain unloving.
When I consider this,
death's long delay is all I must desire,
since reason tells me bliss
is felt by one in thrall to such a fire.
(Trans. by Richard Shirley Smith)
Fig. 3: Anon., undated portrait of Francesco da Milano, (Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan, n.d.)
with partbook open to “Quand’io pens’ al martire”
Table 1: The most frequently intabulated vocal works of the Renaissance (from Brown)
(Lasso set bold pieces as parody masses and underlined pieces as parody Magnificats)
Un gai berger (Crecquillon / Janequin)
23
Doulce memoire (Sandrin / “Rogier”)
21
Susanne ung jour (Lasso / Guillaume Guéroult)
20
D’amour me plains (Pathie)
19
Si pur ti guardo (Pathie)
19
Anchor che col partire (Rore)
18
Je prens en gré (Clemens non Papa / anon)
18
O s’io potessi donna (Berchem)
18
Quand’io pens' al martire (Arcadelt)
18
Dont vient cela (Sermisy)
17
Languir me fais (Sermisy)
17
Table 2:Number of Distinct Versions of Intabulations of Arcadelt Madrigals (from Brown)
Quand'io pens’ al martire (Bembo)
18
O s'io potessi donna
18
La pastorella mia
8
Occhi miei lassi (Petrarch)
7
Si grand’e la pieta
7
Il ciel che rado
6
O felici occhi miei
6
Che piu foco
4
........................................
Ahime, ahime, dov’e il bel viso
2
Il bianco e dolce cigno
2
Fig. 4: Formal diagram of Arcadelt’s setting of “Quand’io pens’ al martire”
Fig. 5: Text form of Arcadelt’s setting of “Quand’io pens’ al martire”
Fig. 6:
Opening phrase of Arcadelt’s Quand’io pens’ al martire
Opening phrase of Kyrie from Lasso’s Missa super Quand’io penso al martire [1569] (Le Roy &
Ballard: Paris, 1582)