Nascoree La Pena Mia - Score and parts

Nascoree La Pena Mia - Score and parts by Striggio. For SAATTB instruments or SAATTB voices. Miscellaneous Music. Choral or Vocal Music. Score and Parts. Published by London Pro Musica (MM.LPM0513).

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Alessandro Striggio was born in Mantua in 1536. In 1559 he went to work for Cosimo de Medici in Florence, at a surprisingly high salary for a young musician: he played the viol, lute, lira da braccio and lirone. He spent much of his working life in Florence, but never entirely lost touch with Mantua, to which he returned in 1587, and where he died about ten years later. Although based in Florence, he made many journeys, including one to Munich in 1567-8, where he contributed some important pieces to the wedding celebrations of Duke Wilhelm of Bavaria. Unlike many composers of his time, he was known primarily for his secular music. This is likely Striggio's best-known madrigal, and survives in many manuscript sources, including the Bottrigari Lute Book (version for voice and lute). There are many surviving arrangements: these including settings for lute (Becchi, Galilei, Adriensen, Terzi, etc.) and for keyboard (Paix, Schmid); there are decorated top parts by Dalla Casa and Bassano (see LPM REP17) and a partial viola bastarda version by Virgiliano (LPM REP2). For a piece that was so successful in its time Nasce la pena mia seems rather conservative, but then this is true of much of Striggios music. In some respects, especially the opening, with several parts opening imitatively on the same note, it is a return to the late chansons of Josquin des Pres, such as the 5-part Plaine de dueil. As in much of Josquin's music, there tends to be a noticeable gap between the parts of tenor range and the cantus - we have to consider the possibility that Striggio intended the piece for a solo singer and five viols, especially as Striggio was a string player himself. - BT.