La Sirena (the Siren), aka Questa dolce Sirena, aka La Caccia d'Amore
A madrigal by Gastoldi, published in 1596, for five voices (2 sopranos, alto, tenor, bass). Negri, the dance-master, borrowed this song for the game-dance La Caccia d'Amore. We often sing it while dancing.
For a discussion of how to use it for dance music, see Katherina's page. She also has settings for instruments, etc.
The original setting is quite high, so we usually sing it transposed down a fourth.
There are a few performances on YouTube, both instrumental and vocal.
Computer-generated sound files to help learn parts (at the pitch we're singing at):
- First line (starts on C), soprano
- Second line (starts on G), soprano or alto
- Third line (starts on E), alto or tenor
- Fourth line (starts on E), tenor
- Fifth line (starts on C), bass
- All parts together
Here's the song at the original pitch, at IMSLP (a source of public-domain sheet music).
We will usually sing it transposed down a fourth, as below.
- La Sirena, for five voices, transposed (pdf)(lilypond)
At this pitch, the voice-parts are more like SATTB, or SAATB.
Music Categories:
At the pitch we use (a fourth lower than the original):
