I could not in my own case look for more musical tongues or more flexible minds among the common people than I noted in the rendering of those authors whom long favour and habit have made popular in the theatres and public squares. That my apprehensions were not idle is clear from the fact that I am continually tortured by the tongues of the people, as they sing the few productions which I allowed to escape me in my youth. I indignantly reject and hate what I once loved ; and day by day walk the streets with vexation and execrate my own talents. Everywhere a crowd of ignorant fellows, everywhere I find my Damoetas ready at the street corner "to murder with his screeching reed " my poor song.

Over the years which have past since Petrarch wrote his Canzoniere people have put his poems to music. More information on this can be found on Petrarch and Music from Penn Library.

Settings:

Poem #332 (Mia benigna fortuna) from the Canzoniere
listen to the music (midi file) Composed by Cyprien de Rore (16th century)
read the sheet music/lyrics (pdf file) Composed by Cyprien de Rore (16th century)
read Musical Settings of Petrarch's "Mia benigna fortuna" a paper by Joti Rockwell

Composers:

Akos Banlaky
For the 700th anniversary of Petrarch's birth, Mr. Banlaky presented several settings in several performances in Vienna.


Performers:

Martin Bruns

Swiss baritone Martin Bruns has won much acclaim for his concert, oratorio, and opera appearances at major concert halls and festivals in, among others, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Geneva, Aldeburgh, Salzburg, New York, Seattle, San Diego, Ottawa. For the Petrarch 700-year anniversary, he offered recitals with works by composers such as Lalo, Cornelius, Pfitzner, Schubert, Liszt to Petrarch texts in major halls of e.g. Berlin, Dresden, Bonn, Augsburg, and Basel.
more info: Petrarca Musicale Website


recital program: piano (140 kb)
recital program: fortepiano (140 kb)
bio: Martin Bruns (380 kb)