Et io qual fui (Orlando di Lasso)

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• CPDL #29925:      (Finale 2008)

Editor: André Vierendeels (submitted 2013-08-22).   Score information: A4, 2 pages, 80 kB   Copyright: CPDL

Edition notes:

General Information

Title: Et io qual fui
Composer: Orlando di Lasso

Number of voices: 4vv   Voicing: SATT

Genre: Secular, Madrigal

Language: Italian
Instruments: A cappella

Published: 1555, in Lasso's first publication, Le quatoirsiesme livre a 4 parties.

Description: This is the fifth part of the six-part madrigal set that opens Orlando di Lasso's first publication. The full set:

1. Del freddo Rheno
2. Ch'il credera
3. Rotava et e pur ver
4. Si fe cristallo
5. Et io qual fui
6. Hor su la nuda terra

External websites:

Original text and translations

See the text and translation for full poem at: Del freddo Rheno a la sinistra riva.

Italian text Fifth stanza: Et io qual fui restai senza la voce et mi perdei nel mio gradito stato caddi o ventura mia sopra la riva, e morto credo in me, vivo in quel foco, dir volsi o nume, e sorrise ella e'l sole, ch’io dissi o neme, e mi legò in quell'herbe.

English translation Fifth stanza: And there I was, left speechless And I lost myself, and I that agreeable state I fell (oh, my good fortune!) above that bank and dead I believe within me, alive in that fire I say I turned Oh nume*, and she smiled with the sun, I spoke: "Oh neme", and she re-bound me in the grass. Nume is a term in Italian for a sacred spirit that lives in a specific place or object.