Aggiu vistu lu mappamundu (Traditional)

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• (Posted 2018-02-22)  CPDL #48891:       

Editor: Francesco Spiga (submitted 2018-02-22).   Score information: A4, 2 pages, 327 kB   Copyright: CC BY NC Share-Alike

Edition notes: Arranged by Francesco Spiga. Arranged for soprano, alto and tenor/baritone. The text is reconstructed on the basis of medieval Sicilian.

General Information

Title: Aggiu vistu lu mappamundu
Alternative title: Ayo visto lo mappamundi
Composer: Anonymous (Traditional)
Lyricist: Anonymous after a lauda by Feo Belcari.

Number of voices: 3vv   Voicings: SAT, SAB, STT or STB
Genre: Secular, Folksong, Madrigal   Meter: 99. 99

Language: Sicilian
Instruments: A cappella

First published: 1984
Description: Popular song in form of frottola at the Sicilian court of Alphonsus V of Aragon. It is a parody of the moral lauda by the Florentine poet Feo Belcari (1410 - 1484) Haggio visto il cieco mondo («I have seen the blind world»), sung on the same tune. It survives in some manuscripts, with a few differences in the text and the melody. Probably, the lyrics have been transcribed by not Sicilian speakers. The song wordplay is based on the ambiguity between the word Cicilia (vernacular spelling for Sicilia until 16th century) and the name Cecilia, meant at the same time as saint Cecilia and the poet's beloved. Juan Cornago composed a beautiful Mass on this tune, which is the only source of the melody. This has been partially reconstructed form by Rebecca Gerber (Cornago Complete Works, 1984) and in a complete shape by Allan W. Atlas (“Aggio visto lo mappamondo”: A New Reconstruction, in Studies in Musical Sources and Style, 1990).

External websites:

• Introduction to Cornago Complete Works

Original text and translations

Sicilian text Aggiu vistu lu mappamundu E la carta di navigari, Ma Cicilia mi pari La chiù bella di quistu mundu. Tri Cicilie son, nun chiui, Tutti tri son curunati: Re Alfonso 'n tien li dui, Citrapharum et Ultrapharum. La terç'ha 'n lu calendari, Nun zi parla di la quarta, Chi nun zi truva in carta: È vinuta di l'autru mundu. Vidi Corziga e Sardigna E la isula di Medea, Nun zi ha nullu chi m'inzigna Cipra, Candia e la Morea. Ai' circatu cun la gallea La nov'isula di Castella, Ma Cicilia è tantu bella Chi pinzandu mi cunfundu. Aggiu vistu lu mappamundu E la carta di navigari, Ma Cicilia mi pari La chiù bella di quistu mundu.

English translation I have seen the world map And the navigational chart, But Sicily seems to me The most beautiful in this world. There are three Sicilies, no more, All three are crowned: King Alphonsus holds two, On the side of the Punta del Faro and beyond. The third one [saint Cecilia] is in the calendar, I won't say anything of the fourth, That is not on the map And came from Heaven. I saw Corsica and Sardinia And the island of Medea too [the Colchis], I did not find anything remarkable In Cyprus, Candia and Peloponnese. I have searched out with the galley The new island of Capo Rizzuto, But Sicily is so beautiful That my mind is confused. I have seen the world map And the navigational chart, But Sicily seems to me The most beautiful in this world. Translation by Francesco Spiga