Donna che sol di Donn'hai la sembianza

Giovanni Maria Nanino was a leading figure in the Roman school of composers in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. This canzonetta, setting Italian words, is a secular piece for treble voices and bass (SST,SAB). The text is a dramatic and impassioned apostrophe to a cruel and pitiless woman, whom the poet compares to a tigress, an ogress, or even a serpent. The speaker questions her origins, lamenting her lack of mercy and pleading for her to cease her torment. Nanino’s setting would have reflected the text’s strong emotions, employing the intricate polyphony and expressive harmonies characteristic of the period.