This edition was prepared by Allen Garvin — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Illustre alma gentile
Staff Notation • Secular, Madrigals
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2 editions of this piece
Different typesettings and voicings of the same work. This page shows the main edition; the others are below.
SATTB · Renato Calcaterra
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Illustre alma gentile by Alessandro Striggio — Lyrics
Prima parte
Illustre'alma gentile
Che di valor di senno e di beltate
Vincete questa e la passate etate.
Seconda parte
Non può'ingegno mortale
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About Illustre alma gentile
Alessandro Striggio's Illustre alma gentile is a magnificent example of Italian Renaissance secular part-music. Composed for SATTB voices, this madrigal sets a text of effusive praise. The opening lines celebrate a noble soul whose virtues and beauty surpass all of antiquity and the present age. The second part of the text continues this hyperbole, declaring that no mortal ingenuity can fully capture such divinity. The poet wishes his own humble style could better express this ideal, but ultimately concludes that Nature and God have never created an equal, save for one Hippolita on earth and a sun in heaven. This work would be a substantial and rewarding addition to a program of Renaissance polyphony.
