E'l bel volto, e'l bel seno

Francesco Eredi sets a passage from Tasso's epic poem Gerusalemme liberata. The text describes a woman's face, bathed in tears of pity, which then revives like a rose after a shower. She lifts her eyes three times, but cannot bear to look again at the object of her sorrow. This SATTB madrigal, sung in Italian, captures the poignant imagery of sorrow and lingering affection through its exquisite Renaissance part-music. The composer’s setting emphasizes the emotional arc of the narrative, from tender grief to an inability to face the source of that pain, creating a rich and dramatic vocal experience for the choir.