Altri che voi

Arcadelt's Altri che voi is a five-part madrigal for STTTB voices, setting a sonnet by Petrarch. The music opens with a sense of gentle questioning and hesitant emotion, the inner voices of the tenors and basses weaving around the sopranos and alto. The composer captures the poignancy of the text, where the poet feels misunderstood and fears offending his beloved with his unworthy passion. He laments the burning desire that is tempered only by the fear of rejection, ultimately declaring that he would rather die in her presence than live without her. Arcadelt's setting beautifully illustrates this exquisite torment with a sensitive interplay between the vocal lines.