Il bianco e dolce cigno

This Italian madrigal opens with a poignant image: the white and sweet swan, singing as it dies, while the poet weeps as his own life draws to a close. The text explores a paradox of mortality, contrasting the swan's desolation with the poet's blissful, joyful end. He finds such pleasure in his dying that he would welcome a thousand deaths a day, so profound is his contentment. Composed for SATTB voices, this secular Renaissance part-music beautifully captures the intense emotions and elegant word-painting characteristic of the madrigal form.