Works » Choral » Io son dolce serena (2009)
for SSAA quartet/chorus
ca 3 minutes
Text: Dante Divine Comedy, Purgatorio XIX
Sung in Italian
Reading: Katherine Peck, Natalie DeMaioribus, sopranos; Emily Campbell, Madeline Hartjes, altos
Italian
«Io son», cantava, «io son dolce serena,
che ’ marinari in mezzo mar dismago;
tanto son di piacere a sentir piena!
Io volsi Ulisse del suo cammin vago
al canto mio; e qual meco s’ausa,
rado sen parte; sì tutto l’appago!».
Translation
“I am,” she sang, “I am the Siren sweet
Who mariners amid the main unman,
So full am I of pleasantness to hear.
I drew Ulysses from his wandering way
Unto my song, and he who dwells with me
Seldom departs so wholly I content him.”
