Come vuoi tu ch'io viva

Antonio Cifra was a respected composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. This secular madrigal for SSATB voices showcases his mastery of the genre. The Italian text explores a poignant paradox: how can the beloved live if they kill their admirer, and how can they die if they grant life? The singers are drawn into a dramatic emotional landscape, caught between death and life, experiencing a living death and a deathly life. Cifra's setting would have been performed in intimate settings, typical of the madrigal tradition.