Ardo sì ma non t'amo

Philippe de Monte’s Ardo sì ma non t’amo is a secular Italian madrigal for SSATB voices. The text, by Guarini, expresses a complex emotional state, describing a speaker who burns with passion, yet claims not to love the object of their affections. This perceived perfidy and lack of compassion from the beloved leaves the speaker feeling unworthy of their loyalty. Despite the burning sensation, the speaker insists their heart is now healed, and any fire felt is one of scorn, not love. Monte’s setting captures the dramatic and rhetorical nature of the text, characteristic of the mature madrigal style of the late Renaissance.