E lucevan le stelle

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E lucevan le stelle is the final romanza in the opera Tosca composed by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is sung by Tosca's lover, the painter Mario Cavaradossi (tenor), when lamenting his coming execution. It is written in B minor and is one of the most desperate, and most famous, arias in all of opera.

The aria is introduced by a somber clarinet solo. The incipit of the melody (heard in outline earlier in the Act, as the sky lightens and the gaoler prepares for the execution) is repeated on the lines "O dolci baci, o languide carezze", and also restated forte in the closing bars of the opera, as Tosca jumps from the ramparts.

1 Libretto
2 Plagiarism suit
3 References
4 Further reading
5 External links

[edit] Libretto

Italian	Translation in English
E lucevan le stelle, ed olezzava la terra stridea l'uscio dell'orto e un passo sfiorava la rena. Entrava ella fragrante, mi cadea fra la braccia. O dolci baci, o languide carezze, mentr'io fremente le belle forme disciogliea dai veli! Svanì per sempre il sogno mio d'amore. L'ora è fuggita, e muoio disperato! E non ho amato mai tanto la vita!	And the stars were shining, and the earth smelled sweet, the garden gate scraped, and a step brushed the sand. She came in, fragrant, and fell into my arms. Oh! sweet kisses, oh! languid caresses, while I, trembling, released her lovely features from their veils! My dream of love has vanished forever. The moment is gone, and I die in despair! And I never have loved life so much!

Italian

Translation in English

E lucevan le stelle,
ed olezzava la terra
stridea l'uscio dell'orto
e un passo sfiorava la rena.
Entrava ella fragrante,
mi cadea fra la braccia.

O dolci baci, o languide carezze,
mentr'io fremente le belle forme disciogliea dai veli!
Svanì per sempre il sogno mio d'amore.
L'ora è fuggita, e muoio disperato!
E non ho amato mai tanto la vita!

And the stars were shining,
and the earth smelled sweet,
the garden gate scraped,
and a step brushed the sand.
She came in, fragrant,
and fell into my arms.

Oh! sweet kisses, oh! languid caresses,
while I, trembling, released her lovely features from their veils!
My dream of love has vanished forever.
The moment is gone, and I die in despair!
And I never have loved life so much!

[edit] Plagiarism suit

In 1920, the stage performer Al Jolson, together with Buddy de Sylva and Vincent Rose, wrote a popular song, Avalon, about the town of the same name on Santa Catalina island. The following year, G. Ricordi, the publisher of Puccini's operas, sued all parties associated with the song, arguing that the melody was lifted from E lucevan le stelle. Puccini and his publisher prevailed in the case and were awarded $25,000 in damages and all future royalties for the song.

[edit] References

The Aria Database

[edit] Further reading

Detailed musical analysis of the aria can be found in Mosco Carner, Giacomo Puccini, Tosca , Cambridge University Press, 1985, pp. 101-104 (ISBN 0521296617) and in Julian Budden Puccini: His Life and Works, Oxford University Press, 2002, pp. 218-219 (ISBN 0195179749).
The text for the original version of the aria which Puccini later shortened for subsequent editions of the libretto can be found in Susan VanDiver Nicassio, Tosca's Rome: The Play and the Opera in Historical Perspective, University of Chicago Press, 2002, p. 307. ISBN 0226579719
An analysis of the theme of female unveiling in this aria and other operas of the time can be found in Jeremy Tambling, Opera and the Culture of Fascism, Oxford University Press, 1996 p. 122. ISBN 0198165668

[edit] External links

Score of 'E lucevan le stelle' for piano and voice with the original text and an English translation by W. Beattie-Kingston. (William and Gayle Cook Music Library, Indiana University School of Music)