La donna mia vuol esser el messere
ballata by Niccolò da Perugia
Sources
Florence: Biblioteca Medicea-Laurenziana, Palatino 87 (Squarcialupi Codex), fol. 93v-94 (2/2); Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, Magliabechiano VII 1078, fol. 13v (text);
London: British Library, Additional 29987,
fol. 26 (2/2).
Facsimiles
1. The Manuscript London, British Museum Add. 29987, facsimile edition by Gilbert Reaney, [n.p.]: American Institute of Musicology, 1965. Musicological Studies and Documents 13, (Lo).
2. Il Codice Squarcialupi edited by F.
Alberto GALLO, Lucca: Libreria Musicale Italiana, 1992.
Editions
1. Der Squarcialupi-Codex Pal. 87 der Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana zu Florenz, edited by Johannes Wolf and H. Albrecht, Lippstadt: Kistner and Siegel, 1955, p. 149.
2. Italian Secular Music: Anonymous Madrigals and Cacce and the Works of
Niccolò da Perugia, edited by W. Thomas Marrocco, Monaco: Editions de L'Oiseau-Lyre, 1972. Polyphonic Music of the Fourteenth Century VIII, p. 139 (Lbl29987).
3. KELLY, Stephen K. The Works of Niccolò da Perugia, 2
vols., Ph.D. dissertation, The Ohio State University, 1974.
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
1. Poesie musicali dei secoli XIV, XV, XVI, edited by Antonio Capelli: Bologna, 1868, p. 40.
2. Lirica italiana antica: novissima scelta di rime dei secolo XIII, XIIII, XV, compiled by Eugenia Levi, Florence: Olschki, 1906, p. 148.
3. SAPEGNO, Natalino. Poeti minori del Trecento, Milan: Ricordi, 1952, p. 521.
4. CORSI, Giuseppe. Rimatori del Trecento, Turin: Unione tipografica editrice torinese, 1969, p. 1057.
5. CORSI, Giuseppe. Poesie musicali del
Trecento, Bologna: Commissione per i testi di lingua, 1970, p. 106.
Literature
1. KÖNIGSLÖW, Annamarie von. Die italienischen Madrigalisten des Trecento, Würzburg-Aumühle: Triltsch, 1940, p. 5.
2. GALLO, F. Alberto. 'The musical and literary tradition of 14th century poetry set to music', Musik und Text
in der Mehrstimmigkeit des 14. und 15. Jahrhunderts, edited by U. Günther and L. Finscher, Kassel: Bärenreiter: 1984, pp. 55-76.
Text
La donna mia vol esser el messere,
e, perché ciò mi spiace
non poss'aver con lei triegua né pace.
Lieva la cresta col viso superbio
che sottometterme al su voler si crede,
ma i' rineghere' prima la fede
ch'i'
stessi a lei com'a lione el cerbio,
perché mi tocca l'antico proverbio:
"La casa non mi piace
dove gallina canta e 'l gallo tace".
Chi de la donna sua si fa suggetto
ben è vil uom, pognam che a molti tocca:
dovrebbe, a mio
parer, chiuder la bocca
e lasciar andar lei a suo diletto.
Per che si dice, per antico detto:
"Chi non è uom verace
ma feminil, de gli uomini è fallace.
Translation
My mistress wants to be the master,
and, since I do not like it,
I cannot find with her concord or peace.
She lifts her crest with a conceited face
because she thinks she'll bend me to her will;
but I would rather
disavow my faith
than cringe before her like a deer to a lion.
The ancient proverb suits my present state:
"The houses I dislike are those
where the cock remains silent, the hen crows".
He who makes himself a subject to his lady
is a
wretch (I grant it is a common failing);
he should, in my opinion, shut his mouth,
and let her carry on, just as she pleases.
"Whoever", the ancient dictum says,
"is not a real man
but is effeminate, is false to his own
sex".
Text revision and translation © Giovanni Carsaniga
