Deh, come in van chiedete

Annibale Gregori’s madrigal depicts a lover’s despair at the indifference of his beloved. He asks his siren in vain why she seeks to hear his song if she herself is deaf to his pleas. His voice is lost, and only the harmony of sighs and laments sounds in his heart. If her harshness silences his song, he implores her to look at his tears, for his weeping has become his only music. This SATTB setting of the Italian text captures the poignancy of the lover’s plight with a rich, expressive vocal texture characteristic of the secular madrigal tradition.