Core mio

Hans Leo Hassler’s Core mio is a secular canzonetta for SATB voices. The music opens with a lively, imitative texture, the voices entering in turn before weaving together. The Italian text speaks of a lover’s despair and plea for help, fearing death without the aid of his beloved. He calls her his life, the one who nourishes his heart, and begs her for love’s sake to heal his incurable wound. The composer’s skillful setting captures the drama of the text through its vibrant interplay of vocal lines and harmonic shifts, characteristic of late Renaissance part-music.