Alas, if you love so much | Alas, if you love so much

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by Giovanni Battista Guarini (1538 - 1612)

Translation © by Barbara Miller

Ohimè! se tanto amate

Language: Italian (Italiano)

Our translations: ENG FRE

Chosen for Diff

Ohimé, se tanto amate 
di sentir dir Ohimè, deh perché fate
chi dice Ohimè morire?
S'io moro un sol potrete 
languido, e doloroso Ohimè sentire;
Ma se, cor mio, [vorrete]¹
che vita [habb'io]² da voi, e voi da me,
avrete mille e mille dolci Ohimè.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• C. Monteverdi

View text without footnotes
¹ Monteverdi: "volete"
² Monteverdi: "abbia"

Text Authorship:

by Giovanni Battista Guarini (1538 - 1612), from Rime, without number. [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 Wilhelm Killmayer (1927 - 2017), "Ohimé! se tanto amate", 1953/4 [ soprano, tenor, and SATB chorus a cappella ], from Canti amorosi, no. 2, Mainz, Schott [sung text not yet checked]
by Claudio Monteverdi (1567 - 1643), "Ohimè! se tanto amate", published 1603 [ vocal quintet ], from Libro IV de madrigali, no. 12, madrigal
Score: IMSLP [external link] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Benedetto Pallavicino (1551 - 1601), "Ohimè! se tanto amate", 1600, from Il sesto libro de madrigali a cinque voci, no. 17 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Barbara Miller) , "Alas, if you love so much", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Hélas ! si vous aimez tant", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: John Versmoren

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 47

Alas, if you love so much

Language: English after the Italian (Italiano)

Chosen for Diff

Alas, if you love so much
as to feel like saying "alas", then why do you make
him who says "alas" die?
If I die you can only one
languid and sorrowful "alas" feel;
But if, my heart, you wish
that I should have life in you, and you in me,
You will have that sweet "alas" thousands and thousands times over.

Text Authorship:

Translation from Italian (Italiano) to English copyright © 2004 by Barbara Miller, (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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Based on:

a text in Italian (Italiano) by Giovanni Battista Guarini (1538 - 1612), from Rime, without number.
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2004-04-26
Line count: 8
Word count: 62