Home     Biography     Works     Premieres     Recordings/Video     Press     Contact     Search





 

Avete in Voi

Version for Soprano, Baritone, and Piano

duration 2'

 

Composed for: Joyce Andrews and
Frank Hoffmeister, 1984

First Page of Score




 
 
Text and Translation:
 
 

Avete in voi li fiori e la verdura,
E ciò che luce, o è bello a vedere;
Risplende più che’ l sol vostra figura,
Chi voi non vede, mai non può valere.
In questo mondo non ha creatura
Sì piena di beltà nè di piacere,
E chi d’Amor temesse, l’assicura
Vostro bel viso e no puó più temere.

                                    octave of Sonnet XV by Guido Cavalcanti (1255-1300)

 

Thou hast in thee the flower and the green
And that which gleameth and is fair of sight,
Thy form is more resplendent than sun's sheen;
Who sees thee not, can ne'er know worth aright.
Nay, in this world there is no creature seen
So fashioned fair and full of all delight;
Fearers of Love who fearing meet thy mien,
Thereby assured, do solve them of their fright.


           trans. Ezra Pound, 1920, in Ezra Pound: Translations, New Directions, New York, 1963


 


 

 
 
 
                             
Home     Biography     Works     Premieres     Recordings/Video     Press     Contact     Search    Top