This edition was prepared by Richard Mix — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Ecc' oscurati i chiari raggi
Staff Notation • Secular, Laments
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Ecc' oscurati i chiari raggi by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina — Lyrics
Ecc'oscurati i chiari raggi al sole,
e tenebrosi or veggio i sette colli
il dolce riso è fatto amaro pianto,
e mest' all' Appenin
rivolge il corso il Tebr' altier,
poichè l'orrenda morte,
l'alta colonna suo post' ha sotterra.
Rara beltà non mai più vista in terra
che fea co’l suo apparir già scorn’al sole.
empia sorte n’ha tolto, o cruda morte,
per dar perpetua notte à questi colli
hai troncato sua vita a mezzo il corso
lasciando amor e’l mondo in doglia e in pianto
Questo doglioso stil colmo di pianto,
ascolta tu qua gius’in terra.
anima bella che volgesti il corso
la tetra nube à sempiterno sole,
mentre ch’io parlo a questi ingrati colli
che risuonan pietà, dolore e morte.
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About Ecc' oscurati i chiari raggi
The words of this Italian lament paint a scene of profound sorrow: the sun’s rays are obscured, the seven hills are now dark, and sweet laughter has turned to bitter tears. The composer, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, sets this text for SATTB or SAT(T)B voices. The poet laments the death of a rare beauty whose radiance rivaled the sun. Cruel fate and death have extinguished her life, plunging the world into perpetual night and leaving love and the world in grief. The text repeatedly invokes tears and sorrow, describing a voice calling out from the earth, addressed to a beautiful soul who has turned away from eternal light. This secular work captures the intense emotional landscape of loss and despair.
