I have done several boasts this year. All of them have been hand crafted by me, but this time, I had been asked to do a different task. This time, my friend, Lisabetta, did not wish to be lauded as she entered court. She simply wanted to be sang in.
I was contacted about a week before the event via email by her grace, Marieke asking me if I would be willing to perform this task (No pun intended). She said that it wasn’t a specific piece, but Lisabetta would like it to be in Italian.
I had a couple pieces in my back pocket, super memorized, but nothing that really captured Lisabetta and what -she- would have wanted. So, I did a bit of thinking. Lisabetta is female artisan who has worked her entire life to be the incredible, warm and well versed in her art. Although her persona is not 16th century (or atleast, I don’t think) I feel like she would have loved the music of the 16th century and Isabelle D’Este, who was the reason why women in the 16th century were able to have a viable career. She loved madrigals and so I pulled out my book of Madrigals and picked out “O Occhi Manza Mia”.
I had been heralding all day in the cold so seeing if I still had a voice was a thing. Here is the translation.
| O occhi, manza mia, cigli dorati, o faccia d’una luna stralucente, Tienemi mente, gioia mia bella, Guardam’un poc’a me, fami contiento. O bocca come zuccaro impanato, o canna che specchiare fai la gente, Tienimi… O cuore, manza mia, perfido cuore. tu sei la gioia mia, lo mio amore! Tienimi… | Oh my beloved’s eyes, set in gold-blond lashes, oh face more luminous than the moon, Keep me in mind, my lovely treasure,Look upon me for a little while, and keep me happy. Oh mouth like sugarloaf, oh throat, that brings crowds in to suckle, Keep me… Oh heart, my beloved, most perfidious of hearts, you are my treasure, you are my love! Keep me… |
Oh yeah… I also read the scroll.. because I could.
Composer: Orlando di Lasso
Language: Italian
First published: 1581 in Libro de villanelle, moresche et altre canzoni, no. 15
Meddlings of the Minnesinger 