This edition was prepared by Willem Verkaik — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Che giova posseder
Staff Notation • Secular, Madrigals
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3 editions of this piece
Different typesettings and voicings of the same work. This page shows the main edition; the others are below.
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Che giova posseder by Orlando di Lasso — Lyrics
Che giova posseder cittadi e regni,
e palagi abitar d'alto lavoro,
e servi intorno aver d'imperio degni,
e le arche gravi per molto tesoro,
esser cantate da sublimi ingegni
di porpora vestir, mangiar in oro,
e di bellezza pareggiar il sole,
giacendo poi nel letto fredde e sole?
Ma che non giova aver fedeli amanti,
E con essi partir ogni pensiero,
I desir, le paure, i risi, i pianti,
E l’ira e la speranza, e ’l falso e ’l vero,
Ed hor con opre care, hor con sembianti
Il grave della vita far leggiero,
E se di rozze in atto, e ’n pensier vili,
Sovra l’uso mondan vaghe, e gentili.
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About Che giova posseder
Orlando di Lasso's Che giova posseder is a secular Italian madrigal for SATTB choir. The text explores the vanity of earthly possessions and worldly status, contrasting them with the profound joy and comfort found in true love and companionship. The composer sets a poem that questions the value of owning cities, kingdoms, palaces, and vast treasures, or of being adorned in purple and feasting from golden plates, if one is ultimately left alone and cold in death. It then shifts to consider the inestimable worth of a faithful lover with whom one can share all thoughts, desires, fears, joys, and sorrows, making life's burdens feel lighter.
