Recit. 1 Là dove a Mergellina bacia la riva il mare, l`innamorato

Recit. 1
Là dove a Mergellina
bacia la riva il mare,
l’innamorato Elpino soletto un dì sen gia,
narrando all’onde, ed alle sparse arene
l’alta beltà della sua cara Irene.
Ne begl’ occhi. diceva,
Siede in trionfo amore,
e ne forma il bel laccio, e lega il core,
nel suo vezzoso volto
sta di bellezza ogni gran pregio accolto,
cedete tutte omai donzelle amanti,
che il vanto di beltà tocca al mio bene,
e pur non sò se m’è pietosa Irene.
Aria 1
Ama chi t’ama, o bella Irene,
che non è vanto la crudeltà.
Alma pietosa sempr’è amorosa
ond’è il bel pregio de la beltà.
.
Recit. 2
E fia che nell’istesso mio pensiero
nemen pace aver posso?
E fia pur vero che nel bel sen
del mio tesoro amato,
un Cuor s’asconda e rigido ed ingrato?
Ite lungi da me, note troppo dolenti,
note troppo infelici
Se non v’ascolta, o non vi cura Irene?
Troppo al cor m’aggiungete affanni e
pene.
Splendi lieto e felice, o mio bel sole,
sia pur meco qual brama il tuo bel core,
sian le gioie per te, per me il dolore.
Aria 2
Mi fan guerra uniti insieme
rio timore e dolce speme,
né dir posso
chi di lor trionferà.
Lo sperare m’è tormento,
il timor me dà spavento,
né sò dire
qual destino il core avrà.
There at Mergellina
where the sea kisses the shore,
the lovelorn Elpino went alone
one day, addressing the waves,
and telling the banks
of the exalted beauty of his beloved Irene.
‘In her lovely eyes’, he said, ‘sits love in
triumph, and forms the snare that binds
the heart. In her charming face lies
gathered every prize of beauty.
Admit, all you lovers,
that the prize of beauty belongs to my
beloved, and yet I know not
whether Irene is merciful to me.’
Love him who loves you,
o lovely Irene,
let not cruelty prevail.
A kind spirit is always loving
where the fine prize of beauty dwells.
And can it be that even in my thoughts
I can never have peace?
And can it be true that within the fine
breast of my beloved treasure
should lurk a heart hard and unfeeling?
Go far from me, too painful notes,
too wretched notes.
Does Irene not listen or care for you?
Troubles and cares, you penetrate
my heart too deeply.
Shine brightly and gladly,
o my beautiful sun,
I want only what your heart yearns for:
joy to you, pain for me.
They are at war together in me
– cruel fear and sweet hope,
and I can’t say
which of them will win out.
Hope torments me,
fear crushes me,
and I don’t know what destiny
my heart will have.
Là dove a Mergellina
Critical Notes
Hanley lists nine sources, of which three
are found in the Conservatorio di Musica
a San Pietro Majella, Naples. 1
The sources used in this edition are:
• London, Royal College of Music,
Lcm 582.
•
Naples, Conservatorio di Musica,
Nc 34.5.10
Lcm 582 is a very fragile manuscript,
bound in cream vellum.
It contains 19 cantatas – 18 attributed to
Alessandro Scarlatti, in many cases ‘Sigr.
Cavaliere Alesso. Scarlatti’. One work is
attributed to Sr. Antonio Lotti. Lcm
contains the famous settings by Scarlatti
of the cantata ‘Andate, o miei sospiri’,
including the setting described as ‘in
regolato Cromatico – non è per ogni
Professore’.
‘Là dove a Mergellina’ occupies ff. 79-86.
It is dated in the copyist’s hand, 1725 and
headed in the first two stave lines,
‘Cantata a Voce sola/del Sigr. Cavalre.
Alesso. Scarlatti’.
Watermark: very unclear, but appears on
f.86 to be a single circle (as with most of
the cantatas in the volume).
Nc 34.5.10
‘Autori contenuti in questo volume
Scarlatti Alessandro p.a1 a123
Scarlatti, Giuseppe p.a 124 a 173’
BIBLIOTECA DEL R.
CONSERVATORIO DI MUSICA IN
NAPOLI
Heading (in upper four staves) Cantata à
Voce Sola / Del Sigr. Alessandro Scarlatti.
‘Là dove à Margellina’ is numbered 10 in
the volume and occupies ff.57-63v.
Watermark: animal in single circle
Aria 1 has the remark (in a later hand)
‘Bello’ and ‘molto bello’.
This source is much less profusely figured
than Lcm, indeed lacking figures
altogether in Aria 2, but the musical text is
accurate, occasionally more so than Lcm.
Both sources use throughout a flat sign in
place of a natural to cancel a sharp in the
previous measure, except in Aria 2, where
the use of a natural often signals the
presence of a tritone in consecutive notes
of the bass or vocal line.
Notes
Recit. 1
M. 1 ‘Margellina’ in Nc.
M. 18, C, note 1 is e’’ in Lcm.
Aria 1
Aria Adagio (Lcm and Nc) Nc. also has
‘adagio’ written over the vocal entry, m. 7;
Lcm ‘ado.
Throughout the aria, triplet semiquavers
are notated with three tails (i.e. as if
demisemiquavers), following the practice
of Alessandro Scarlatti. 2
M. 40, B, last group of triplets is one
semiquaver, two demisemiquavers in Nc.
M. 44, B, notes 3 and 4 are crotchets in
Nc.
M. 50, B, notes 5 and 6 are quavers in Nc.
M. 59, Lcm has ‘Dal Segno’; Nc has ‘Da
Capo’ with a cue to the vocal entry m. 7.
Aria 2
Aria andte in Lcm; Andante in Nc.
M. 17, C beats 2 – 4 are dotted crotchet
(c’’), 3 quavers (c#’’ –d’’-c#’’).
M. 19, C notes 6, 7, 8 are a’, b flat’ c’’ in
Lcm. Edition follows Nc.
This edition is dedicated to my friend
soprano Kate Eckersley who has given
memorable performances of this
wonderful work, which I had the pleasure
to accompany.
Rosalind Halton,
University of Newcastle 2010.
1
A later eighteenth-century source held in
Noto, Sicily, is listed in a source entitled
Cantate per Studio/Del Cavalier/ Alessandro
Scarlatti / ed altri Autori See ‘Una cantata
di Haendel di dubbia attribuizione presso
il Fondo Altieri di Noto’, Nicolò
Maccavino,
Goettinger
HaendelBeitraege, ed Hans Joachim Marx, Band
XI, pp.63-94: 69, where it is listed as ‘Là
dove a Margellina’.
2
I am indebted to Barbara Sachs (Loro
Ciuffenna) for suggesting the idea that
Scarlatti’s consistent usage of threeflagged
groups
to
denote
triplet
semiquavers may be independent of the
modern use of three-flagged unit to mean
demisemiquavers (32nd notes), but instead
refers to a triplet division of the quaver
unit.
Acknowledgments
I am most grateful to the Royal College of
Music, London (Reference Librarian Dr.
Peter Horton) for kindly authorising use
of the manuscript Lcm 582 as the primary
source of this edition; and to the
Biblioteca del Conservatorio di Musica a
San Pietro Majella, Naples, for supplying
microfilm of the manuscript Nc. 34.5.10.
My warm thanks also to Barbara Sachs,
Danilo Romei (Università di Firenze), and
Roberto Pagano (Palermo), for their
valued advice and assistance in clarifying
various points of the text and translation.
Rosalind Halton