A che più strali invano

Antonio Cifra's A che più strali invano is a secular Italian madrigal for SSATB voices. The music opens with a vivid declamation of the text, its interplay of lines creating a rich and immediate dramatic effect. The composer uses the five-part texture to portray the turmoil of the text, which describes a lover's plea to cease futile attacks on the heart. The singer implores their beloved to strike their own breast instead, as the heart has already been stolen and hidden there. If the beloved fears crossing the waves (a metaphor for emotional commitment), they should allow the singer to die with their heart within their beloved's breast.