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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 Carlo Francesco Badini (c1710 - c1800)
Translation © by Margaret Smythe

Saper vorrei se m'ami
Language: Italian (Italiano) 
Our translations:  ENG FRE
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, 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.

Notes: Soprano's text in [] brackets where different from tenor.
Stanza 3, line 3: "augello" (ant. e letter.) = uccello.


Text 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 ] [sung text checked 1 time]

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

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


Researcher for this page: David K. Smythe

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

I should like to know if you love me
Language: English  after the Italian (Italiano) 
I should like to know if you love me,
if there is another than I that you long for,
if you live only for me,
if you know that I live in you.

What would you like to know?
[What would I like to know?]
O how thankless you are!
[Ungrateful, O God, why?]

The plants know,
and the mountains, the breezes,
the birds, and the springs,
and only you do not know
what my soul is like.

I know it, but I want to feel it,
to hear it repeated.

If together we repeat it
what harmony that would make.
You begin, who in canon
I want to follow.

I love you more than these eyes,
much more than life
you will always be for my good,
always, forever I want to adore you.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Italian (Italiano) to English copyright © by Margaret Smythe, (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 Carlo Francesco Badini (c1710 - c1800)
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 23
Word count: 135

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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