O Fortuna volubil e leggiera

Luca Marenzio sets Se quel dolor, a chapter by the Petrarchan
poet Luigi Tansillo as a cycle of ten madrigals in his sixth book of
madrigals for six voices (1595). Dedicated to Margherita, the Duchess of
Ferrara, the mood of this collection is dark and sombre, far removed
from the light, sweet-flowing style of his earliest works. Marenzio was
by now approaching the end of his life, suffering from ill-health and
melancholic moods. This may explain why he chose to include such a
serious text which explores and prepares for death. He may also have
been thinking of Margherita’s husband, the Duke of Ferrara, who had
himself reached old age. Marenzio demonstrates all the techniques and
expressive devices that he had mastered throughout his career: flexible
tempi, expressive chromaticism, harmonic dissonance and tonal complexity
and all contribute to the tone of resignation in Tansillo’s melancholic
text.

O Fortuna volubile, e leggera!	O Fortune, fickle and inconstant,
Appena vidi il Sol, che ne fui privo;	No sooner did I see the Sun, than I was bereft of it,
Al comminciar del dì, giunse la sera.	No sooner did the day break, than it was evening!
Lunge da voi, se da voi lunge io vivo,	Far from you, should far from you I live,
Le lagrime, il pensiero, e la speranza	Tears, cares, and hopes will be
Saranno il cibo mio, d’ogn’altro schivo.	My only sustenance, all else will I loathe.
E sì dal lungo pianto, ora m’avanza,	And as from long lamenting my hour approaches
Il sonno in braccio per pietà mi prenda,	May merciful sleep embrace me,
La bella, cara angelica sembianza.	Beautiful, dear, angelic vision.