Ardo per te mio bene

Antonio Cifra was a composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. This setting of Ardo per te mio bene is a secular madrigal for SSATB voices. The text expresses the passionate suffering of unrequited love, with the singer burning for their beloved, languishing in misery and finding no escape. The plea is that the object of affection should share in this ardour and suffering, with the singer imploring: 'If pity has a place in you, languish in my languishing, burn in my burning.' Cifra's music would have served to heighten the emotional intensity of the poetic text, a hallmark of the madrigal tradition.