Se tu della mia morte

"Se tu della mia morte" ("If you of my death") is an aria from act 3 of Alessandro Scarlatti's 1697 opera La caduta de' decemviri[1] (The fall of the decemviri) to a libretto by Silvio Stampiglia.[2]

The da capo aria in G minor is accompanied only by a basso continuo. Its time signature is 12/8 to a tempo of andante and it is 24 bars long. The vocal range for a castrato soprano is from D4 to F5.[3] It has been transposed to various keys for different voice types.

The aria gained popularity as a concert aria when it appeared in 1886 in the collection Arie antiche by Alessandro Parisotti, published by Casa Ricordi in Milan.[4]

Lyrics

Appio Claudio has just attempted suicide, but Valeria, who loves him despite his rejection, has prevented it. "If I cannot die by my own hand, may your eyes kill me."[1]

Se tu della mia morte
a questa destra forte
la gloria non vuoi dar,
dalla a'tuoi lumi.

E il dardo del tuo sguardo
sia quello che m'uccida
e mi consumi.

Would'st thou the boast of ending
a life and love of feuding
deny to this right hand,
grant it to thine own eyes.

As lances keen, thy glances
be swift and sure in slaying
a heart they so despise.[5]

References
  1. Monelle, Raymond (2006). The Musical Topic: Hunt, Military and Pastoral. Indiana University Press. p. 217. ISBN 9780253112361.
  2. Caduta de' decemviri, La, roles and details (in Italian)
  3. Hermine Weigel Williams, ed. (1980). "Se tu della mia morte". La caduta de' decemviri. The Operas of Alessandro Scarlatti, Donald Jay Grout, general editor. Vol. VI. Harvard University Press. p. 173. ISBN 9780674640320.
  4. Murata, Margaret (2009). Damien Colas (ed.). D'une scène à l'autre, l'opéra italien en Europe: Les pérégrinations d'un genre. Mardaga. p. 288. ISBN 9782870099926.
  5. "Se tu della mia morte". Anthology of Italian Songs of the 17th and 18th Centuries) (in English and Italian). Vol. 1. Translated by Theodore Baker. Kalmus / Alfred Music. 29 November 1999. p. 35. ISBN 9781457488351. K 09869.
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