Monteverdi: Sí dolce èl tormento

This song was written in Italian.  The English translation to the lyrics is below.
So sweet is the torment 
in my breast 
that happily do I live 
for cruel beauty. 
In the heaven of beauty 
let cruelty grow 
and mercy be lacking: 
for my faith will always 
be as a rock, 
in the face of pride. 

Let deceitful hope 
turn away from me, 
let neither joy nor peace 
descend on me. 
And let the wicked girl 
whom I adore 
deny me the solace 
of sweet mercy: 
amid infinite pain, 
amid hope betrayed, 
my faith will survive. 

The hard heart 
that stole mine away 
has never felt love’s flame. 
The cruel beauty 
that charmed my soul 
withholds mercy, 
so let it suffer, 
repentant and languishing, and 
let it sigh one day for me.


The lyrics are both beautiful and sad.  The music is also beautiful and sad.  I was able to hear it sung by a male tenor and a female soprano.  I cannot decide which I liked better.  Both were done very well.


The melody was very beautiful and the instrumental accompaniment was also beautiful.  The melody began with a descending line that occurred repeatedly throughout the song.   Both of the vocalists were able to express the emotion in their singing and it was very moving.


At times there was a violin or viola that played the melody line alone and also with the vocal part.  This added a lot to the beauty and melancholy tone of the piece.  The other instrumental accompaniment was a lute.  I loved how the instruments and the voice fit together so well to create such beautiful music.