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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.
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
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.
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.
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- a text in Italian (Italiano) by Carlo Francesco Badini (c1710 - c1800)
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 23
Word count: 135