Gravi pene in amor

Gioan Paien's Gravi pene in amor is a secular Italian madrigal for two-part choir. The text speaks of the many sorrows experienced in love, with the composer's own share of these pains being particularly abundant. The singer's experience has been so profound that they feel they can speak of it as a skill or art. While they have said before, both in song and in writing, that one ill is light and another bitter and fierce, they urge the listener to trust their true judgment. The simple SA voicing allows the direct expression of these heartfelt sentiments, typical of the Renaissance madrigal tradition.