Giovani incauti

Luca Marenzio was one of the most celebrated composers of madrigals in late 16th-century Italy. This secular Italian setting for SAB voices explores the power of love's gaze. The text warns young lovers against looking too closely at the sun-like figure of Amore, whose glance alone can incinerate the earth. It speaks of her fierce jealousy of her own value, and her disdain for mortal eyes that dare to behold her, as such a lofty object cannot be contained within human sight. The music, typical of the genre, would have reflected the dramatic imagery and emotional intensity of the poem through its harmonic language and contrapuntal textures.