Gesualdo

Don Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa (ca. 1561–1613):
Beltà, poi che t’assenti (madrigal)

Selection 3 from Music of the Baroque: An Anthology of Scores, editions 1 and 2
Click here for score
Click here for audio (video clip from Werner Herzog, Death for Five Voices, performed by Il Complesso Barocco, directed by Alan Curtis)
Text and Translation

1 Beltà, poi che t’assenti, Beauty, since you have consented,
2 Come ne porti il cor, porta i tormenti. As you carry off my heart take also my torments.
3 Che tormentato cor può ben sentire For a tormented heart can well feel
4 La doglia del morire, The pain of dying,
5 E un’alma senza core But a soul without a heart
6 Non può sentir dolore. Cannot feel sadness.