Io non hebbi giammai – Dolorosi martir

Composer: Marc'Antonio Ingegneri (b. 1547 - d. 1592)
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Composer: Marc'Antonio Ingegneri (b. 1547 - d. 1592)

Performance date: 02/07/2019

Venue: St. Brendan’s Church

Composition Year: 1547 - 1565

Duration: 00:03:17

Recording Engineer: Gar Duffy, RTÉ

Instrumentation Category:Vocal Ensemble

Instrumentation Other: s, m, t, b

Artists: Fieri Consort (Hannah Ely, Lucy Cox [sopranos], Nancy Cole, Helen Charleston [mezzo-sopranos], Tom Kelly, Josh Cooter [tenors], Ben Mckee, Ben Rowarth [bass]) - [vocal ensemble]

Marc’Antonio Ingegneri is famed as the teacher of Monteverdi, and today
we present two rarely heard madrigals of his construction. The first, Io non hebbi giammai,
opens with a serene, homorhythmic statement from the lower voices
before gradually increasing the rhythmic complexity and repetition of
text as the piece builds to its climax with the words “ché per maggior
tormento”. Ingegneri plays with the voicing, contrasting three and
four-voice passages for almost the entire piece before bringing all the
singers together in a tearful close. The second, a setting of Petrarch’s
text Dolorosi martir, fieri tormenti, differs from the first in pace, but both are beautiful examples of the craftsmanship that inspired Monteverdi.
Io non hebbi giammai

Io non hebbi
giamai pace ne tregua

I never had peace nor truce

Ne riposto al mio
cor tristo e doglioso

nor rest for my sad and sorrowful heart

Ma sempre in
angoscioso pianto misera vissi

but I always lived in anguished tears

E in duol amaro
dal di che cominciaro

and in bitter pain since the day that

A farmi guerra I
duri miei pensieri

my harsh worries started being at war with my
thoughts

Ne mi lice ch’io
speri parlesar ad altrui cio ch’al cor sento:

and I’m not allowed to hope to reveal to someone
else what I feel in my heart

Che per maggior
tormento l’empia mia sore vuole

because for greatest torment my cruel fate desires

che le lagrime
mie si spargan sole.

that my tears be shed in solitude.

Dolorosi martir

Dolorosi martir, fieri tormenti,

Grievous martyrdoms, fierce
torments,

Duri ceppi, empi
lacci, aspre catene,

harsh fetters, evil snares, rough chains,

Ov’io la notte i
giorni, ore e momenti

where I night and day, every hour, every moment

Misero piango il
mio perduto bene;

miserable lament my lost well-being;

Triste voci,
querele, urli, e lamenti,

sad voices, complaints, cries, and laments.

Lagrime spesse e
sempiterne pene

Tears shed and eternal afflictions

Son’ il mio cibo
e la quiete cara

are my nourishment and the treasured tranquillity

Della mia vita,
oltre ogni assenzio amara.

of my life, more bitter than any wormwood.