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Bella Angioletta by Gesualdo translation and errataDate: December 19, 2012 by Eddie B Creer, Jr.  Views: 1441
CPDL has the second line in the music starting with the word prestane but the text at the bottom of the page says prestame. I cannot find a translation for either word let alone determining which one is correct. Google's translation is sketchy at best so I would like a translation of the entire text if possible. Here is the entrie text.
Bella Angioletta, da le vaghe piume
Prestame al grave pondo
Tanto ch’io esca fuor di questo fondo O possa in qualche ramo Di te cantando dire: “Io amo, io amo!”
Soli deo gloria
Eddie B Creer, Jr.
Director of Vocal Music
Salina High School South
Salina, KS, USA
Replies (10): Threaded | Chronological
Nancy Curry on December 19, 2012 12:40pm
Eddie,
I think the "prestane" is a mis-print, and "prestame" is the correct spelling, as it is the contraction of the verb "prestare" (in the infinitive) or "to lend" and the pronoun "me" or "to me".
My best shot at a word-by-word translation is:
Beautiful little angel, of the vague (light, fair, filmy?) feathers,
Lend to me, [I] of a serious burden,
Enough [of them] so that I could be lured out of this depth,
O [if] I could, in (from) some bough,
To you singing say (tell):
I love, I love!
Those ChoralNet folks who have studied Italian madrigals more than I have may have a more poetic translation available, and there are some online. I always think it best to work it out word-by-word with a dictionary, and then check the poetic versions for more meaning and subtext clues. I just finished coaching an opera workshop scene study of Monteverdi's Orfeo, and the students were required to translate their roles, to discover the significance of the text's meaning in Monteverdi's melodic lines, and were delighted to discover the text-painting in the composition. Knowing each word's meaning also made it easier to memorize.
There are several good, free translation dictionaries online, although sometimes the irregular verbs take some digging around to locate ("possa" is from the infinitive "potere", for example).
Try en.diciios.com, or dictionary.reverso.net
NC
Marty Morell on December 19, 2012 2:28pm
Eddie and Nancy,
Actually, I think either "Prestane" or "Prestame" is possible. If "prestane," then the meaning is "lend of them" (the feathers); if "prestame," then the meaning is "lend to me." (The modern Italian counterpart of the latter is "prestami," but the spelling with -e is possible in 16th-century Italian.)
"Angioletta" is likely to be a woman's name (there are a number of contemporary madrigals addressed to an "Angioletta" who is clearly a person, not an angel, although in this case either is seemingly possible).
BTW "possa" is the first person present subjunctive of "potere" ("esca" is similarly a subjunctive form), the subjunctive being required by "Tanto che ..."
I would suggest the following variant of the translation:
Lovely Angioletta, against my heavy burden
Lend me of your fair feathers
Enough that I might come forth from these depths,
Or I might, on some bough,
Say of you in song,
"I love, I love!"
Regards,
Marty Morell
www.italianmadrigal.com
Stephen Doerr on December 20, 2012 8:34am
And 'esca' is from 'uscire'!
on December 19, 2012 1:59pm
Eddie,
the right word is PRESTANE and here is a good translation.
Good luck and Merry Christmas
IVO ANTOGNINI
music composer
on December 19, 2012 2:30pm
Google would suggest that the correct form is 'Prestane': 'Prestame' only occurs on the CPDL page and on Choralnet. 'Ne' is another pronoun (like 'me') that can be tacked on the end of a verbal form: it means 'of it' or 'of them'. There's a translation here: http://www.naxos.com/sharedfiles/PDF/8.570548_sungtext.pdf.
--
Steve
on December 19, 2012 3:43pm
Oops. I stand corrected. Thank you, gentlemen. I spend much more time with romantic operas than renaissance madrigals, so from now on I'll leave the madrigals for the experts!
NC
on December 19, 2012 9:11pm
Eddie,
please, be careful that "Tanto" - in your version - should be corrected with "Tante".
Best,
IVO
on December 20, 2012 9:55am
Fair enough, but if you do a Google search on "Tanto ch'io" and sift through the 489,000 hits (not all of them relevant), you will find some counter-examples. I don't have immediate access to 16th-century editions of Tasso, but it wouldn't surprise me to find both variants. Also, it is well to keep in mind that in the 16th century, much literature circulated in manuscript, and orthographic and editorial standards were not as rigorous as today.
Marty
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