Dicea al suo Tirsi

Giovanni Bernardo Colombi's Dicea al suo Tirsi is a secular madrigal for SSATB voices. The text, taken from Cesare Rinaldi's Rime, is a charming and elaborate address from the nymph Eurilla to her beloved Tirsi. Eurilla compares Tirsi to the sun, which rests in the lap of the sea goddess Thetis. She implores Tirsi not to close his eyes and sleep alone on soft feathers, but rather to come into her arms, where Love itself will make her a new Thetis. The polyphonic writing of the madrigal would have been ideal for expressing the affection and playful persuasion of the text.