George Frideric Handel, “E pur così / Piangerò” (Giulio Cesare, 1724)
Performers: Sonja Gustafson, soprano
Alan Demir, piano
Text and English Translation:
Recitative:
E pur così in un giorno And yet thus in a single day
perdo fasti e grandezze? Ahi fato rio! do I lose splendour and greatness? Ah wicked fate!
Cesare, il mio bel nume, è forse estinto. Cesare, my handsome sovereign, is probably dead.
Cornelia e Sesto inermi son, Cornelia and Sesto are defenseless,
nè sanno darmi soccorso. nor do they know how to give me assistance.
O dio, non resta alcuna speme al viver mio. Oh God, there doesn’t remain any hope for my life.
Aria:
Piangerò la sorte mia, I shall lament my fate,
sì crudele e tanto ria, so cruel and so wicked,
finché vita in petto avrò. as long as I have life in [my] breast.
Ma poi morta d’ogn’intorno But when I am dead, from all around, [the literal translation of the final
il tiranno e notte e giorno the tyrant, both night and day, lines has been designed, in part,
fatta spettro agiterò. having become a ghost, I will haunt. to portray the disjointed thoughts]
Audio:
Score:





