Preserve, o gods | Preserve, o gods who

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Pietro Antonio Domenico Bonaventura Trapassi (1698 - 1782), as Pietro Metastasio

Translation © by Andrew Schneider

Serbate, o Dei custodi

Language: Italian (Italiano)

Our translations: CAT ENG FRE

Serbate, o Dei custodi
Della Romana sorte,
In Tito, il giusto, il forte,
L'onor di nostra età.

Voi gl'immortali allori
Su la Cesarea chioma,
Voi custodite a Roma
La sua felicità.

Fu vostro un sì gran dono;
Sia lungo il dono vostro;
L'invidii al mondo nostro
Il mondo che verrà.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• W. Mozart

W. Mozart sets stanza 1

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Tutte le opere di Pietro Metastasio, Firenze, Tipografia Borghi e compagni 1832, page 251.

The text appears in "La Clemenza di Tito", atto I, scena V

Text Authorship:

by Pietro Antonio Domenico Bonaventura Trapassi (1698 - 1782), as Pietro Metastasio, no title, written 1734, appears in La Clemenza di Tito [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 Giovanni Adolfo Hasse (1699 - 1783), "Serbate, o Dei custodi", 1735, first performed 1735 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791), "Serbate, o Dei custodi", K 621 no. 5 (1791), first performed 1791, stanza 1, from opera La clemenza di Tito, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Serbate, o Dei custodi", D 35 (1812), published 1940 [ vocal quartet, mixed chorus, tenor with basso continuo ], 3 composition exercises (during Schubert's studies with Salieri) [sung text checked 1 time]

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

Researcher for this page: Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 50

Preserve, o gods

Language: English after the Italian (Italiano)

Preserve, o gods who 
preside over the fate of Rome,
the honor of our age
in Titus, the just and mighty.

You, immortal laurels
upon the imperial head,
you guard Rome's happiness
for all posterity.

Such a gift can only come from you;
may it last us a long time.
May the world that is to come
look upon ours with envy.

Text Authorship:

Translation from Italian (Italiano) to English copyright © 2018 by Andrew Schneider, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in Italian (Italiano) by Pietro Antonio Domenico Bonaventura Trapassi (1698 - 1782), as Pietro Metastasio, no title, written 1734, appears in La Clemenza di Tito
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2018-05-01
Line count: 12
Word count: 62