Monteverdi's Zefiro Torna

It is pure medicine, during these trying times, to listen to these marvelous musicians play and sing this wonderful duet. I am amazed at the flexibility of the cornetto, and the way it matches the violin (and what a brilliant choice, since it's usually played with two violins)! I love the blend and contrast between the marvelous soprano and countertenor voices, the indulgent array of plucked instruments playing the ostinato, and Ottavio Rinuccini's poem!



Zefiro torna e di soavi accenti
L'aer fa grato e'l pie discoglie a l'onde
E mormorando tra le verdi fronde
Fa danzar al bel suon sul prato i fiori,
Inghirlandato il crin Fillide e Clori,
Notte temprando amor care e gioconde,
E da monti e da valli ime e profonde
Raddopian l'armonia gli antri canori.
Sorge più vaga in ciel l'aurora, e'l sole
Sparge più luci d'or, più puro argento
Fregia di Teti il bel ceruleo manto.

So io per selve abbandonate e sole
L'ardor di due begli occhi e'l mio tormento
Come vuol mia ventura hor piango, hor canto.


[Return O Zephyr, and with gentle motion
Make pleasant the air and scatter the grasses in waves
And murmuring among the green branches
Make the flowers in the field dance to your sweet sound;
Crown with a garland the heads of Phylla and Chloris
With notes tempered by love and joy,
From mountains and valleys high and deep
And sonorous caves that echo in harmony.
The dawn rises eagerly into the heavens and the sun
Scatters rays of gold, and of the purest silver,
Like embroidery on the cerulean mantle of Thetis.

But I, in abandoned forests, am alone.
The ardour of two beautiful eyes is my torment;
As my Fate wills it, now I weep, now I sing.]

Here's the score.