This edition was prepared by Peter Rottländer — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Bel pastor
Staff Notation • Secular, Madrigals
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2 editions of this piece
Different typesettings and voicings of the same work. This page shows the main edition; the others are below.
ST · Peter Rottländer
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Bel pastor by Claudio Monteverdi — Lyrics
Bel pastor, dal cui bel guardo
Spira foco ond'io tutt'ardo,
m'ami tu?Sì cor mio
Com'io desio?Si cor mio
Dimmi quanto?Tanto tanto.
Come che?Come te, pastorella tutta bella.
Questi vezzi e questo dire
non fan pago il mio desire;
Se tu m'ami, o mio bel foco,
dimmi ancor, ma fuor di gioco:
Come che?Come te, pastorella tutta bella.
Vie più lieta udito avrei:
"t'amo al par degli occhi miei."
Come rei del mio cordoglio
questi lumi amar non voglio,
di mirar non sazi ancora
la beltà che sì m'accora.
Come che?Come te, pastorella tutta bella.
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About Bel pastor
Monteverdi's Bel pastor is a secular Italian madrigal for two voices, soprano and tenor. The text depicts a dialogue between a shepherd and a shepherdess. He asks if she loves him, and she responds with declarations of love, initially playful and then more insistent, asking him to express his affection in words as passionate as her own. The shepherdess expresses her desire for reassurance, pushing for a declaration of love that matches her own intense feelings. The music likely reflects the escalating emotional content of the text through its melodic and harmonic gestures, characteristic of Monteverdi's expressive madrigal style.
