Come Cinthia tal'hor, si nube oscura

This setting by Giaches de Wert captures a poignant text by Federico Asinari. The words paint a striking simile: as a dark cloud can obscure one horn of the moon, leaving the other pale, so the composer's light, once pure, is now tinged by mortal sorrow, almost unseen and unresplendent. The poem laments that if death should shadow this guiding light, lovers who have bravely navigated the world's dark precipices with its help will be left without courage or virtue, their salvation lost. This striking SATB madrigal, sung in Italian, reflects the era's sophisticated approach to secular part-music, where complex harmonies and expressive word-painting were paramount.