Cosi vol mia ventura

This madrigal for three male voices, TTB, is an example of secular Renaissance part-music in Italian. The composer, Eliseo Ghibel, crafts a texture where the voices move with intricate interweaving, reflecting the text’s imagery. The opening phrases present a lively, imitative character, soon settling into a more flowing homophony. The lyrics describe a traveler, perhaps the poet himself, who laments his fate or his own missteps. He speaks of gathering flowers and weaving garlands, yet simultaneously searching for a tiger, humbled and weeping. This juxtaposition suggests a complex emotional landscape, a searching for something powerful and perhaps dangerous amidst a pastoral setting.