Consumando
Staff Notation • Secular, Madrigals
2 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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Consumando by Jacquet de Berchem — Lyrics
About Consumando
This secular Italian madrigal by Jacquet de Berchem for SATTB voices vividly expresses the singer's profound suffering and sleepless nights. The text draws extensive comparisons between the singer's overwhelming sorrow and the vastness of nature – the sea, the stars, the birds in the woods, and the fields. The poet laments that no creature, no matter how numerous, experiences as many afflictions as they do. There is a fervent desire for the final evening, a release from life's troubles, and the hope of finding peace, even comparing this wish to unnatural events like a waveless sea or the sun receiving light from the moon. The music would have been intended for a small, skilled ensemble, typical of Renaissance chamber music.