Italia mia (2007)
For SATB chorus, 9’
Commissioned by the Sacred and Profane Chamber Chorus
On “Italia Mia” by Petrarch
1. Italia mia
2. Voi cui fortuna
3. Ne v’accorgete ancor
4. Non e’ questo
5. Signor, mirate
6. Canzone, io tammonisco
Sacred and Profane Chamber Chorus; Rebekah Seeman, Director
About the Music
Petrarch’s remarkable canzona, Italia Mia, is a plea for peace among the warring factions in late medieval Italy. Of his eight original stanzas, I have set six. My setting revolves around an idee fixe made out of minor thirds, emphasizing the bittersweet nature of Petrach’s plea. I also invoke the mainly syllabic style of Renaissance Italian madrigals, but break into melismatic sighs in the last movement, whose final phrase expresses Petrarch’s poignant wish for his country: “Who will assure me? I go my way crying ‘Peace, peace, peace!’”
 Score Sample | PDF license per copy $2.50 |