Et è questa la fede

Francesco Maria Guaitoli's Et è questa la fede is a secular Italian madrigal for SATTB voices. The music opens with a striking dissonance, quickly resolving and setting the stage for the text's dramatic narrative. The composer captures the emotional turmoil of a speaker betrayed by a lover, exploring themes of broken trust and defiant rejection. The text speaks of faith given in the presence of love, now met with ingratitude, leading the speaker to break free and turn elsewhere. The madrigal concludes with a powerful assertion of scorn and a burning desire for retribution, all vividly portrayed through the intricate interplay of the voices.