Difference between revisions of "Forz'è pur nel proprio sangue"

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Either we fall, exsanguinated by the sword,  
Either we fall, exsanguinated by the sword,  
Or we die, tossed about by the waves.<ref name="FR"/></poem>}}
Or we die, tossed about by the sea.<ref name="FR"/></poem>}}
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==References==
==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name"Bible">
<ref name="Bible">
{{cite web
{{cite web
| url        = https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2014&version=KJV
| url        = https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2014&version=KJV

Revision as of 14:28, 9 March 2022

Il faraone sommerso
by Nicola Fago
First page of the manuscript (1709-1799)
First page of the manuscript (1709-1799)[1]
Full titleThe Drowned Pharao
Librettoanonymous
LanguageItalian
Premiere
Date1709

"Forz'è pur nel proprio sangue" is an aria from the oratorio "Il faraone sommerso" (Engl.: The drowned pharao) by Nicola Fago. The author of the libretto remains unknown. The piece premiered in 1790.[1]

The plot is set around the events detailed in Exodus 14.

"Forz'è pur nel proprio sangue" appears on the following album:

Year Album Ensemble Conductor
2020 La Vanità del Mondo (Album) Artaserse

Libretto

Forz'è pur nel proprio sangue
(It is our destiny)

from  Il faraone sommerso
Nicola Fago (music),  anonymous (words)

(Messo (Messenger))


Italy
Modernized Italian

Recitativo
Ohimè! D'armi e cavalli
oste potente porta il piè veloce!
Odo il suon della voce e veggio
delle spade orrido il lampo.
Chi su l'arena e in questa solitaria foresta
a turba inerme porgerà lo scampo?
Ahi, che men’ dura sorte
era il giogo portar
che girne a morte.

Aria
Forz'è pur nel proprio sangue,
O nell'onde naufragar.

O cader dal ferro esangue,
O perir gioco del mar.

 

Italy
Ancient Italian

Recitativo
Ohimè, d'armi e cavalli
oste potente porta il piè veloce.
odo il suon della voce e veggio
delle spade orrido il lampo.
Chi su l'arena e in questa solitaria foresta
à turba inerme porgerà lo scampo?
Ahi, che men dura sorte
era il gioco portar*
che girne à morte.

Aria
Forz'è pur nel proprio sangue,**
ò nell'onde naufragar.

ò cader dal ferro esangue,
ò perir gioco del mar.

From the manuscript, 1709-1700[1]
*)"gioco" must be "giogo"
**)"forz'è" = "è necessario"
(analogue to the French "il faut")
 

United Kingdom

Recitativo
Alas! Armed and on horseback,
the mighty host swiftly approaches us!
I hear the sound of his voice and I see
The horrid flashing of the swords.
Who, on the sands and the lonely forest
is to aid the unarmed crowd in their escape?
Ah, how much less of a harsh fate
it was to bear the yoke
than to be driven to death.

Aria
It is our destiny to drown
In our own blood or in the waves

Either we fall, exsanguinated by the sword,
Or we die, tossed about by the sea.[2]

Context

The role of the messenger (ital: "messo") fulfils the one of an immersed narrator, transporting the narrative parts of the bible passage to the listener. The aria has its typical function of making the characters' emotions palpable, here those of the Israelites who believe they are being driven into the water. Fago's librettist stays very close to the biblical original.

Exodus 14, 8-12.
8 And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand.
9 But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baalzephon.
10 And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord.
11 And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?
12 Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.
(King James Version)[3]

Sheet music

Incipit of "Forz'è pur nel proprio sangue"
Incipit of "Forz'è pur nel proprio sangue"

Free Manuscript ("Forz'è pur": p. 105 ff

Manuscript, n.d.(ca.1709-99).
Public Domain
Biblioteca del Conservatorio di musica Luigi Cherubini, Florence (I-Fc B.2374).
"l Faraone Sommerso (Fago, Francesco Nicola), Manuscript, n.d.(ca.1709-99)". Archived from the original on October 1, 2021. Retrieved October 1, 2021.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "l Faraone Sommerso (Fago, Francesco Nicola), Manuscript, n.d.(ca.1709-99)". Archived from the original on October 1, 2021. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
  2. English translation by Birikein & FR, 2021
  3. "Exodus 14, King James Version". Bible Gatewway. Archived from the original on November 12, 2021. Retrieved November 12, 2021. Cite has empty unknown parameters: |coauthors= and |offline= (help)