Sia quel ch'esser pò, ben far si de'
ballata by Andrea da Firenze
Sources
London: British Library, Additional 29987, fol. 28 (2/2).
Facsimiles
The Manuscript London, British Museum Add. 29987, facsimile edition by Gilbert Reaney, [n.p.]: American Institute of Musicology, 1965. Musicological Studies and Documents 13.
Editions
1. The Music of Fourteenth Century Italy, edited by Nino Pirrotta, [n.p.]: American Institute of Musicology, 1964. Corpus Mensurabilis Musicae 8/V, p. 26.
2. Italian Secular Music, edited by W. Thomas Marrocco, Monaco: Editions de
L'Oiseau-Lyre, 1977. Polyphonic Music of the Fourteenth Century X, p. 46.
3. French Secular Music. Ballades and Canons, edited by Gordon K. Greene, Monaco: Editions de L'Oiseau-Lyre, 1982. Polyphonic Music of the Fourteenth Century
XX, p. 46.
4. GOZZI, Marco. [London, British Library 29987: Transcription and Commentary], 2 vols., dissertation, Cremona, Scuola di paleografica musicale, University of Pavia: 1984-1985.
5. GARFORTH, Constance C. The Lo Manuscript:
A Trecento Collection, Ph.D. dissertation, Northwestern University: 1983.
Text Editions
CORSI, Giuseppe. Poesie musicali del Trecento, Bologna: Commissione per i testi di lingua, 1970, p. 306.
Literature
TAUCCI, Raffaello. 'Fra Andrea dei Servi, organista e compositore del Trecento', Rivista di studi storia sull'Ordine dei Servi di Maria, II (1935), p. 89.
Text
Sia quel ch'esser po', ben far si de',
amar virtù, servar leanza e fé.
Secondo che 'l proverbio antico dice,
a più signor ben servir non si pò,
s'a l'un promete e a l'altro disdice:
e credi a me, che già
provato l'ho.
Deh, sia tale a me qual a te so,
ch'amor perfetto non è sanza fé
Translation
Be it as it may, one must do good,
love virtue, keep loyally one's word.
According to the ancient proverb,
one cannot serve well more than one lord,
if he promises one what he denies the other.
Believe me, who have
already experienced.
I hope it may be for me what I know is for you:
love is not perfect without faith.Text revision and translation © Giovanni Carsaniga