Amatemi ben mio 6vv

Luca Marenzio was a leading composer of madrigals in late 16th-century Italy, a period when this secular vocal genre reached its zenith. Amatemi ben mio is a six-voice madrigal that sets a poignant Italian text exploring the reciprocity of love. The lyrics express a plea for love: the singer’s heart rejects all else and lives only for love. They pledge to love in return if loved, and to love as long as life lasts. However, if love is denied, the singer faces despair and death, unable to love without being loved in return. The SAATTB voicing offers a rich texture for this expressive text.