Già la notte s'avvicina:
    Vieni, o Nice, amato bene,
    Della placida marina
    Le fresch' aure a respirar.

    Non sa dir che sia diletto
    Chi non posa in queste arene,
    Or che un lento zeffiretto
    Dolcemente increspa il mar.

Lascia una volta, o Nice,
Lascia le tue capanne. Unico albergo
Non è già del piacere
La selvaggia dimora;
Hanno quest'onde i [lor]1 diletti ancora.
Qui, se spiega la notte il fosco velo,
Nel mare emulo al cielo
Più [lucide]2, più belle
Moltiplicar le stelle,
E per l'onda vedrai gelida e bruna
Rompere i raggi e scintillar la luna.
Il giorno al suon d'una ritorta conca,
Che nulla cede alle incerate avene,
Se non vuoi le mie pene,
Di Teti, e Galatea, di [Glauce]3, e Dori
Ti canterò gli amori.
[Tu dal mar scorgerai]4 sul vicin prato
Pascer le molli erbette
Le tue care agnellette,
Non offese dal sol fra ramo e ramo:
E con la canna e l'amo
I pesci intanto insidiar potrai;
E sarà la mia Nice
Pastorella in un punto e pescatrice.

    Non più fra' sassi algosi
    Staranno i pesci ascosi;
    Tutti per l'onda amara,
    Tutti verranno a gara
    Fra' lacci del mio ben.

    E l'umidette figlie
    De' tremuli cristalli
    Di pallide conchiglie,
    Di lucidi coralli
    Le colmeranno il sen.

L. Beethoven sets stanzas 1-2
G. Rossini sets stanzas 1-2
I. Colbran sets stanzas 1-2
G. Schubert sets stanzas 1-2
F. Curschmann sets stanzas 1-2
A. Salieri sets stanzas 1-2

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View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Tutte le opere di Pietro Metastasio, Firenze, Tipografia Borghi e compagni 1832, page 720.

¹ Porpora: "suoi"
² Porpora: "placide"
³ Porpora: "Glauco"
⁴ Porpora: "E tu vedrai dal mar"

Text Authorship:

• by Pietro Antonio Domenico Bonaventura Trapassi (1698 - 1782), as Pietro Metastasio, no title, appears in Cantate, in 3. Il Trionfo della Gloria, in 10. La pesca [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 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827), "Già la notte s'avvicina", WoO 99 no. 14 (1801-2), stanzas 1-2 [ vocal quartet for soprano, alto, tenor and bass ], from Mehrstimmige italienische Gesänge, no. 14, note: formerly number 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Isabella Colbran (1785 - 1845), "Già la notte s'avvicina", stanzas 1-2 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Augusta Cowell , "La pesca", published 1838? [ medium voice and piano ], London : Chappell [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Karl) Friedrich Curschmann (1805 - 1841), "Canzonetta", op. 24, stanzas 1-2 [ voice and piano ], confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Niccolò Jommelli (1714 - 1774), "Già la notte s'avvicina", subtitle: "La pesca", INJ 27 [ soprano and strings ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Nicola Antonio Porpora (1686 - 1768), "Cantata Sesta", S. 45 [ soprano and continuo ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Gioacchino Antonio Rossini (1792 - 1868), "La pesca", stanzas 1-2 [ vocal duet for 2 sopranos and piano ], from Serati Musicali [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Antonio Salieri (1750 - 1825), "Già la notte s'avvicina", 1803, stanzas 1-2 [ voice and piano ], from Divertimenti vocali, no. 2, confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Georgine Schubert (1840 - 1878), "Gondoliera", published 1875, stanzas 1-2 [ vocal trio for female voices with piano ], from Lieder und Gesänge, Erste Folge, no. 7, Dresden, Hoffarth [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in French (Français), a translation by Louis Pomey (1835 - 1901) [an adaptation] ; composed by Pauline Viardot-García.
  • Go to the text.
    
• Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Emilia Gustavovna Orlova (1840 - c1915) ; composed by Pauline Viardot-García.
  • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
    

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

• ENG English (Margaret Smythe) , "Already night is approaching", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Garrett Medlock) , copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Déjà la nuit s'approche", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• GER German (Deutsch) (Johannes Becker) , "Schon naht die Nacht", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , David K. Smythe , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor] , Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 42
Word count: 211

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No more among algae-covered stones
Shall the fish remain hidden
All [of them] by the bitter wave,
All shall come [in a race]
Into the traps of my beloved.

And the wet daughters
Of the tremulous crystals,
Of the pale shells,
Of the shiny corals,
They shall fill [his/her/their] breast.