Era d'intorno verdeggiante il piano

Domenico Micheli, a composer of the Venetian school, wrote this secular madrigal for SATTB voices. The Italian text, a sonnet by Maffeo Veniero, describes a pastoral landscape transformed by the appearance and subsequent departure of a beautiful woman, likened to an angel. Initially, the scene is verdant and vibrant, with flowers and birdsong. However, her swift departure chills the landscape, leaving the fields and trees frozen and the birds lamenting in vain. The second stanza compares the power of her eyes to the sun, capable of illuminating and bringing life. Her absence, however, causes May to bloom only in the heart, while the countryside loses its natural splendor. This work exemplifies the expressive qualities of the Italian madrigal tradition.