Bonzorno Madonna

Bonzorno Madonna opens with a lively, imitative texture, the four SATB voices engaging in playful banter. The text, in Italian, is a secular madrigal, and the composer Antonio Scandello uses the music to characterise the witty, slightly teasing lyrics. The singers celebrate the arrival of their 'Madonna' with effusive praise for her beauty and elegance, but then playfully suggest she would be even more lovely if she weren't quite so old. The light-hearted mood is further enhanced by the concluding nonsensical syllables 'Tam, tam, taridom...'