Già la notte s'avvicina:
    Vieni, o Nice, amato bene,
    Della placida marina
    Le fresch' aure a respirar.

    Non sa dir che sia diletto
    Chi non posa in queste arene,
    Or che un lento zeffiretto
    Dolcemente increspa il mar.

Lascia una volta, o Nice,
Lascia le tue capanne. Unico albergo
Non è già del piacere
La selvaggia dimora;
Hanno quest'onde i [lor]1 diletti ancora.
Qui, se spiega la notte il fosco velo,
Nel mare emulo al cielo
Più [lucide]2, più belle
Moltiplicar le stelle,
E per l'onda vedrai gelida e bruna
Rompere i raggi e scintillar la luna.
Il giorno al suon d'una ritorta conca,
Che nulla cede alle incerate avene,
Se non vuoi le mie pene,
Di Teti, e Galatea, di [Glauce]3, e Dori
Ti canterò gli amori.
[Tu dal mar scorgerai]4 sul vicin prato
Pascer le molli erbette
Le tue care agnellette,
Non offese dal sol fra ramo e ramo:
E con la canna e l'amo
I pesci intanto insidiar potrai;
E sarà la mia Nice
Pastorella in un punto e pescatrice.

    Non più fra' sassi algosi
    Staranno i pesci ascosi;
    Tutti per l'onda amara,
    Tutti verranno a gara
    Fra' lacci del mio ben.

    E l'umidette figlie
    De' tremuli cristalli
    Di pallide conchiglie,
    Di lucidi coralli
    Le colmeranno il sen.

L. Beethoven sets stanzas 1-2
G. Rossini sets stanzas 1-2
I. Colbran sets stanzas 1-2
G. Schubert sets stanzas 1-2
F. Curschmann sets stanzas 1-2
A. Salieri sets stanzas 1-2

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Tutte le opere di Pietro Metastasio, Firenze, Tipografia Borghi e compagni 1832, page 720.

¹ Porpora: "suoi"
² Porpora: "placide"
³ Porpora: "Glauco"
⁴ Porpora: "E tu vedrai dal mar"

Text Authorship:

• by Pietro Antonio Domenico Bonaventura Trapassi (1698 - 1782), as Pietro Metastasio, no title, appears in Cantate, in 3. Il Trionfo della Gloria, in 10. La pesca [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827), "Già la notte s'avvicina", WoO 99 no. 14 (1801-2), stanzas 1-2 [ vocal quartet for soprano, alto, tenor and bass ], from Mehrstimmige italienische Gesänge, no. 14, note: formerly number 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Isabella Colbran (1785 - 1845), "Già la notte s'avvicina", stanzas 1-2 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Augusta Cowell , "La pesca", published 1838? [ medium voice and piano ], London : Chappell [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Karl) Friedrich Curschmann (1805 - 1841), "Canzonetta", op. 24, stanzas 1-2 [ voice and piano ], confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Niccolò Jommelli (1714 - 1774), "Già la notte s'avvicina", subtitle: "La pesca", INJ 27 [ soprano and strings ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Nicola Antonio Porpora (1686 - 1768), "Cantata Sesta", S. 45 [ soprano and continuo ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Gioacchino Antonio Rossini (1792 - 1868), "La pesca", stanzas 1-2 [ vocal duet for 2 sopranos and piano ], from Serati Musicali [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Antonio Salieri (1750 - 1825), "Già la notte s'avvicina", 1803, stanzas 1-2 [ voice and piano ], from Divertimenti vocali, no. 2, confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Georgine Schubert (1840 - 1878), "Gondoliera", published 1875, stanzas 1-2 [ vocal trio for female voices with piano ], from Lieder und Gesänge, Erste Folge, no. 7, Dresden, Hoffarth [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in French (Français), a translation by Louis Pomey (1835 - 1901) [an adaptation] ; composed by Pauline Viardot-García.
  • Go to the text.
    
• Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Emilia Gustavovna Orlova (1840 - c1915) ; composed by Pauline Viardot-García.
  • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
    

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• ENG English (Margaret Smythe) , "Already night is approaching", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Garrett Medlock) , copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Déjà la nuit s'approche", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• GER German (Deutsch) (Johannes Becker) , "Schon naht die Nacht", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , David K. Smythe , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor] , Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 42
Word count: 211

Schon naht die Nacht,
komm, o Nice, mein geliebter Schatz,
lass uns den frischen Abendwind atmen,
der von ruhigen Küste kommt.
 
Niemand kann sich auserwählt fühlen,
wenn er nicht in diesem Sande steht,
jetzt, wo ein sanfter Hauch
lieblich das Meer kräuselt.

[...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...]

[...
...
...
...
...]

[...
...
...
...
...]