Title:
- Recit: I rage, I melt, I burn
- Aria: O ruddier than the cherry
- sung by Polyphemus (Bass) in Acis and Galatea
Music: George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Text: libretto by John Gay, Alexander Pope, and John Hughes.
Free at Art Song Central (PDF files):
- PDF: I rage, I melt, I burn! – O ruddier than the cherry
- Key: Aria is in G minor
- Range: F2 – F4
- Source: Songs and Airs by George Frideric Handel (Volume II, Low)
Elsewhere on the Internet:
Mp3:
MIDI:
Recit:
I rage, I rage, I melt, I burn! The feeble god has stabbed me to the heart. Thou trusty pine, prop of my god-like steps, I lay thee by! Bring me a hundred reeds of decent growth, to make a pipe for my capacious mouth; in soft enchanting accents let me breathe sweet Galatea’s beauty, and my love.Aria:
O ruddier than the cherry,
O sweeter than the berry,
O nymph more bright than moonshine night,
Like kidlings blithe and merry!Ripe as the melting cluster,
No lily has such lustre;
Yet hard to tame as raging flame,
And fierce as storms that bluster!
- Wikipedia has an article on Acis and Galatea
- Stanford hosts the libretto
- The Münchener Digitalisierungszentrum hosts scans of the full score of Acis and Galatea.
