Chi puo contar le stelle

Hans Brachrogge’s Chi puo contar le stelle is a work of considerable charm, written for three sopranos (SST). The composer conjures a delicate texture, with the voices weaving around each other in nimble lines that mirror the poem’s rhetorical questions about the immeasurable. The Italian text, a secular poem typical of the madrigal tradition, explores the impossibility of counting the stars and grains of sand, before turning to the incomparable beauty of a beloved. The music captures this sense of wonder, with intricate, flowing lines that suggest a breathless admiration for supreme beauty.