Bramai già di morire

Cesare Zoilo’s SSATB madrigal Bramai già di morire opens with an urgent, declamatory opening, the voices seizing on the text’s desire for death. The music vividly portrays the lover’s wish to die from an unseen wound, a metaphor for the pangs of love. As the text progresses, the music depicts the lover’s longing for death to come swiftly, personified as a blessed release from suffering. The polyphony here is rich and expressive, reflecting the dramatic and highly emotional nature of the Italian secular poetry of the time. Zoilo’s setting is a compelling example of Renaissance part-music, alive with the passions of its text.