Cors' a la morte il povero Narciso

Giovanni Domenico da Nola was a composer of madrigals in the Italian Renaissance. This four-part setting, Cors' a la morte il povero Narciso, is a secular work in the Italian language. The text speaks of a lover's adoration, comparing his beloved's beauty to classical tales of Helen of Troy and Ganymede. He describes how gazing upon his love's face lifts him to paradise, and how he burns with pleasure in the flame of his passion. The lover concludes by pleading for pity, and stating that since his fate is bound to his beloved, he rushes towards her to find his death.