Aspro core et selvaggio, et cruda voglia

Adrian Willaert, a towering figure of the early and high Renaissance, wrote this vibrant Italian madrigal for SAATTB voices. The text speaks of a heart that is harsh and savage, paired with a cruel desire, yet contained within a sweet, angelic form. The poet laments that if this rigor endures, it will leave a dishonored shell of him. He weeps constantly, whether day or night, in sorrow over his fate and the pain inflicted by his lady and by Love. He clings to hope, recalling how constant trial can wear away even marble and stone. The final lines offer a glimmer of optimism, suggesting that no heart is so hard, no will so cold, that it cannot be moved by tears, pleas, and love.