Fra duri scogli sanz'alcun governo
madrigal by Paolo da Firenze
Sources
Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale, fonds italien 568, fol. 58v-59 (2/2).
Editions
1. WOLF, Johannes. 'Florenz in der Musikgeschichte des 14. Jahrhunderts', Sammelbände der internationale Musikgesellschaft, III (1901), p. 644.
2. Italian Secular Music: Bartolino da Padova, Egidius de Francia, Giulielmus de Francia, Don
Paolo da Firenze, edited by W. Thomas Marrocco, Monaco: Editions de L'Oiseau-Lyre, 1975. Polyphonic Music of the Fourteenth Century IX, p. 127.
3. The Music of Fourteenth-Century Italy, edited by Nino Pirrotta and Ursula Günther,
Rome: American Institute of Musicology. Corpus Mensurabilis Musicae 8/VI. [forthcoming]
Text Editions
1. CORSI, Giuseppe. Rimatori del Trecento, Turin: Unione tipografica editrice torinese, 1969, p. 1044.
2. CORSI, Giuseppe. Poesie musicali del Trecento, Bologna: Commissione per i testi di lingua, 1970, p. 268.
Literature
WOLF, Johannes. 'Florenz in der Musikgeschichte des 14. Jahrhunderts', Sammelbände der internationale Musikgesellschaft, III (1901): 599-646.
Recordings
Monuments of the Ars Nova, vol. 102, Lise Daniels (S), R. Bontè (T), flute, trumpet, viola, directed by Guillaume de Van: Oiseau-Lyre OL 102 (10'').
Text
Fra duri scogli, sanz'alcun governo
mi trovo, lasso, in tempestoso mare;
perduto ho l'orza e son a mezo 'l verno
naufragando come uom suol fare.
Di Scorpio quella casa mi spaventa
che suole a' più periti aiuto
dare.
Ma se fé ha piatà, chi ne tormenta
dolente fia assai né ma' contenta
Translation
I find myself, alas, in a stormy sea,
amongst rocks, without any rudder.
It's midwinter, and I have lost my bow-line.
As I am foundering, as man is wont to do,
I fear the house of Scorpio,
which usually gives help to
those who are more expert than myself.
But if faith is compassionate, she who torments me
will be sorry and never happy.
Text revision and translation © Giovanni Carsaniga