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| Artusini, Antonio |
Ah dolente partita (SSATB)
A setting of Mirtillo's anguished lament (Pastor Fido III/iii), by a little-known composer active in Ravenna. See also the versions by Monteverdi, Wert and Taroni. |
| Casentini, Marsilio |
Care mie selve, addio (prima parte of 2) (SATTB) *NEW*
A younger contemporary of Monteverdi, Casentini spent much of his career in the Friulian town of Gemona. His setting of Amarilli’s farewell to her beloved Arcadian woods, uttered at a moment in Pastor fido (IV/v) when she believes she is about to be unjustly put to death, underscores the poignancy of the situation. |
O Mirtillo, ben fu misero (seconda parte) (SATTB)
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| Croce, Giovanni |
O Mirtillo, Mirtillo (SSATTB)
Croce's only known setting of a text from Pastor Fido (Act III Scene iv), being the opening lines of Amarilli's soliloquy lamenting the emotional harm she is compelled to inflict on Mirtillo. |
| Del Mel, Rinaldo |
O bella età dell'oro (SSATTB)
A beautiful setting of the initial lines of the Chorus that concludes Act IV of Pastor Fido. Del Mel masterfully captures the spirit of Guarini's young, innocent and unspoiled Arcadia. |
| Gagliano, Marco da |
O misera Dorinda (prima parte of 2) (SATTB) *NEW*
A setting of Dorinda's painful realization (Pastor fido, II/ii) that Silvio lacks any feeling for her. (He would rather spend time with his hunting dog.) The text was also set by Gastoldi in his Quarto libro a 5 (available through Edition Michael Procter). See also the version by Ghizzolo. A native of Florence, Gagliano was associated with Peri, Rinuccini and the Caccinis; he is better known for his early opera La Dafne (1608). |
Te sotto umana forma (seconda parte) (SATTB)
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| Gastoldi, Giovanni Giacomo |
M’è più dolce il penar (SSATB)
Mirtillo's riposte to Corisca's provocative advances (Pastor Fido, III/vi). The Alto has been reconstructed. |
Com' è soave cosa (SSATB)
Corisca tries to insinuate that Mirtillo would be happier in her arms than to continue to pine after Amarilli (Pastor Fido, III/vi). I had originally reconstructed the missing Alto; however, it turns out that the piece was reprinted in a late (1610) anthology, which survives complete. Needless to say, Gastoldi's version of the Alto, given here, is better than my reconstruction. |
| Ghizzolo, Giovanni |
O misera Dorinda (SATTB+bc) *NEW*
A setting for five voices, plus optional continuo, of an excerpt from Pastor fido (Act II Scene ii) in which Dorinda comes to the painful realization that Silvio lacks any feeling for her. A younger contemporary of Monteverdi, Ghizzolo was equally at home in the prima prattica of the late XVI c. and the seconda prattica of the early baroque. See also the version by Gagliano. |
| Monteverdi, Claudio |
Anima mia, perdona (prima parte of 2) (SSATB)
A setting of part of Amarilli's wrenching soliloquy (Pastor Fido, III/iv), in which she laments the emotional harm that she is compelled to inflict on Mirtillo. |
Che se tu sei 'l cor mio (seconda parte) (SSATB)
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Quell'augellin, che canta (SS A/T TB)
Monteverdi turns Linco's exhortation to Silvio, to the effect that birds do it, bees do it, everyone but you does it (Pastor Fido I/i) into a musical tour de force. |
Ecco Silvio colei (prima parte of 5) (SSATB)
Monteverdi's most extended, and arguably most powerful, Pastor Fido setting -- a dialogue (Act IV Scene ix) between the gravely wounded Dorinda and Silvio, who has unintentionally shot her with an arrow while hunting. As a result of this unfortunate contretemps, Silvio undergoes a profound change of heart.
(A version transposed down a minor third is also available.) |
Ma se con la pietà (seconda parte) (SSATB)
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Dorinda ah dirò mia (terza parte) (SSATB)
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Ecco piegando le ginocchia a terra (quarta parte) (SSATB)
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Ferir quel petto Silvio (quinta parte) (SSATB)
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Ch'io t'ami (prima parte of 3) (SSATB)
A setting of part of Mirtillo's increasingly desperate, and hopeless, appeal to Amarilli (Pastor Fido, III/iii). |
Deh bella e cara (seconda parte) (SSATB)
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Ma tu più che mai dura (terza parte) (SSATB)
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O primavera, gioventù dell'anno (SSATB) *NEW*
Monteverdi somewhat shortens Guarini's text (Pastor Fido III/iii), with the result that it loses some of its raw emotion and the piece becomes more of a musing on the "nature-is-so-beautiful-but-I'm-so-miserable" theme. For greater plumbing of emotional depths, see the more extended setting by Wert. |
Ah, dolente partita! (SSATB) *NEW*
The opening bars of Monteverdi's rendition of Mirtillo's grief-stricken leave-taking from Amarilli (Pastor Fido, III/iii) harken back to Wert's setting of the same text (q.v.), but the gut-wrenching emotional portrayal and formidable compositional complexity make the older master seem tame by comparison. (Transposed versions of this piece are also available.) |
| Pallavicino, Benedetto |
Cruda Amarilli (prima parte of 2) (SATTB) *NEW*
Pallavicino's masterful setting of Mirtillo's opening lines (Pastor fido, I/ii) begins with a remarkable series of dissonances and suspensions, although the remainder of the piece is less daring. |
Ma grideran per me (seconda parte) (SATTB) *NEW*
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| Rognoni Taeggio, Francesco |
Deh Tirsi, anima mia, perdona (prima parte of 2) (SSATB+bc) *NEW*
Rognoni's version of Amarilli's poignant Pastor Fido lament, altered to address a "generic" shepherd Tirsi rather than her beloved Mirtillo. Here the continuo part is obligatory, not optional. See also Monteverdi's "Anima mia, perdona." |
Che se tu se'l cor mio (seconda parte) (SSATB+bc)
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| Ruffolo, Lucrezio |
Arda pur sempre (SMTTB)
Another setting of part of the lengthy dialogue between Mirtillo and Corisca (Pastor Fido III/vi), in which Mirtillo obstinately -- in Corisca's view -- maintains his steadfast love for Amarilli. Ruffolo was in the service of Ferrante II Gonzaga, Count of Guastalla. |
| Taroni, Antonio |
Ah dolente partita (SSATB)
Another setting of Mirtillo's lament (Pastor Fido III/iii), by an early 17th-c. Mantuan composer, evidently influenced by Monteverdi |
| Verdonck, Cornelius |
Vieni, dolce Imeneo (SSATTB)
A setting of part of the festive Chorus at the close of Pastor Fido (Act V Scene ix), celebrating the nuptials of Amarilli and Mirtillo. Verdonck, a Flemish composer active in both Antwerp and Madrid, published a volume of Italian madrigals in addition to sacred and other secular music. |
| Wert, Giaches de |
Ah dolente partita (SSATB)
Wert's compact but powerful setting of Mirtillo's anguished lament (Pastor Fido III/iii). See also the settings by Monteverdi, Artusini and Taroni. |
O primavera gioventù dell'anno (prima parte of 5) (SS A/T TB)
A gorgeous extended cycle which plumbs the panoply of Mirtillo's emotions as he awaits what will prove to be a disastrous encounter with his beloved Amarilli (Pastor Fido III/iii). |
O dolcezze amarissime d'amore (seconda parte) (SS A/T TB)
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Ma se le mie speranze oggi non sono (terza parte) (SS A/T TB)
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E s'altri non m'inganna (quarta parte) (SS A/T TB)
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Oh lungamente sospirato in vano (quinta parte) (SS A/T TB)
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Udite lagrimosi spirti (prima parte of 2) (SAATB)
A setting of Mirtillo's depths-of-dispair soliloquy (the opening lines of Pastor Fido III/vi), at which point he has abandoned hope of a reconciliation with Amarilli and is vulnerable to manipulation by Amarilli's rival Corisca. |
La mia donna crudel (seconda parte) (SAATB)
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