Amor, che nel bel petto

Giovanni Andrea Dragoni was a composer of the late Renaissance. This SAATB madrigal, set in Italian, is a fine example of secular part-music from the period. The text expresses the pain of unrequited love, a common theme in madrigal literature. The poet pleads with Cupid to soften the heart of his proud and unyielding beloved, whose eyes and breast have ignited a fierce passion within him. He begs the god of love to look upon his suffering and inspire pity in her, lest she continue to scorn love's power to her own detriment and his extreme anguish.