Hor ch'à noi torna

As springtime returns, the birds, beasts, and all creatures feel the sweet darts of Love, but Damon, lying amongst flowers and grass, laments that Love does not wound him, but instead pricks him with cruelty and pride. He sings this sorrowfully to Spring. Hor ch'à noi torna is a secular madrigal for SATTB voices by Giovanni Bernardino Nanino. The Italian text expresses a poignant contrast between the natural world’s awakening to love and the singer’s own unrequited feelings, set to music that would have been at home in the vibrant musical culture of late Renaissance Italy.