Chi mette il pie

This setting of an Italian text by Jacquet de Berchem for SATB voices opens with a sense of urgency, with the voices entering in quick succession, creating a contrapuntal texture that vividly illustrates the text's warning. The words speak of the dangers of love, comparing its snares to a sticky web from which one should try to withdraw. It argues that love is fundamentally madness, a universal judgment of the wise. Even if one does not rage like Orlando (a reference to Ariosto's Roland), love's fury is shown in other ways. The text questions what greater sign of madness there could be than to lose oneself for the sake of another. This is a secular madrigal from the Renaissance, characterised by its expressive musical setting of the words.