Augellin lascivetto

Adriano Banchieri's Augellin lascivetto is a secular Italian madrigal for SSATB voices. Banchieri was a prolific composer and theorist in the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. This madrigal sets a poem that addresses a lively, chattering little bird. The text describes the bird's sweet song, capable of charming the heavens and elements, before lamenting a cruel beast that has snatched away both the bird and the singer's beloved. The poet's sorrow is profound, finding parallels between the lost bird and their own lost hope and love, with the dawn itself seeming to languish in sympathy.