Saper vorrei se m'ami,
s'altro che me tu brami,
se per me sola vivi,
se sai che vivo in te.

Questo saper vorresti?
[Questo saper vorrei?]
Oh quanto ingrata sei!
[Ingrata, oh Dio, perché?]

Sanno le piante,
ei monti, l'aure,
gli [augelli]1, ei fonti,
e sola tu non sai
l'anima mia qual è.

Lo so, ma bramo sentirlo,
sentirlo replicar.

Se insiem lo replichiamo
qual armonia de' far.
Comincia tu, che a canone
ti voglio seguitar.

Più di quest'occhi io t'amo,
più della vita assai
solo [sola] il mio ben sarai,
sempre, sempre ti vo' adorar.

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ augello (ant. e letter.) = uccello.
Soprano's text in [] brackets where different from tenor.

Authorship

• by Carlo Francesco Badini (c1710 - c1800) [author's text not yet checked 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 (Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809), "Saper vorrei se m'ami", Hob. XXVa no. 1 (1796). [duet for soprano and tenor with cimbalom or piano] [
   text verified 1 time
  ]

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

• ENG English (Margaret Smythe) , title 1: "I should like to know if you love me", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , title 1: "Je voudrais savoir si tu m'aimes", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: David K. Smythe

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 23
Word count: 96