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Ti
sento, O Dio bendato
for soprano(b-f''),
oboe, and continuo
Ti sento, O Dio bendato is among a small number
of Lotti's cantatas which have obbligato instruments.
The source for Ti sento, O Dio bendato is a
manuscript in the collection of Richard Fitzwilliam, (7th Viscount Fitzwilliam
of Merrion) and is inscribed by him with the date 1774. His entire collection
of art, and his library, was bequeathed by him in 1816 to the University
of Cambridge, and is housed in the Fitzwilliam Museum. The assistance
of the curator of manuscripts in making available a facsimile copy, is
gratefully acknowledged.
The text of Ti sento, O Dio bendato presented some difficulty.
It contained a number of inconsistent spellings, and an apparent reference
to the dog rose (‘cane Rose’), the relevance of which remains
obscure. (It is just possible that the copyist of this work was struggling
with an unclear source, and was not familiar with the Italian language.)
I am obliged to my colleague Barbara Sachs, and to Prof. Danilo Romei
of the Facoltà di Lettere dell'Università di Firenze, for
their suggestion of a possible alternative reading.
The work is distinguished by the unusual treatment of the last line of
the central recitative: the passage ‘fai soave il languir, caro
l’affanno’ (you make yearning sweet, anguish to be cherished)
is set as a rather solemn, chromatic and somewhat discordant arioso.
The work opens and closes with a da capo aria, in which the voice and
the oboe work in a balanced partnership; each finishes with an instrumental
reprise. The subject is, as usual, the suffering caused by the god of
love.
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