Hans Brachrogge
Denmark’s King Christian IV’s decision to send some of his musicians to Italy to learn about the madrigal and related forms was a little behind the curve in 1602 compared with the “madrigal madness” in England that started in 1588 with ‘Musica Transalpina’. Hans Brachrogge was one of the musicians chosen to go to Venice and study with Giovanni Gabrieli, the great maestro at Saint Mark’s. After his return to Denmark Hans was sent along with Møgens Pedersen to be part of James I’s Queen Anne’s retinue in England in 1611; Queen Anne being Christian IV’s sister. After 3 years Hans returned to the Danish Court, the last mention of him in Court documents is 1638.
Non mi fuggiere
Nineteen of Brachrogge’s canzonets are printed in ‘Madrigaletti a III voci’(Copenhagen, 1619), which is edited in ‘Dania sonans’ ii, 1966.
Hans Brachrogge "Non mi fuggiere"
Non mi fuggiere, o vaga
Mia colomba amorosa,
Non esser con tuo labri
Si schiva e si ritrosa
Sono si semplicette
Le colombe, ma piaga,
Sentono pur d’Amore:
Con mordaci rostro si dano i baci.
Do not flee away from me,
My dear loving dove,
Be not so coy with your lips,
So bashful and shy,
They seem so innocent,
Those doves, but they can hurt,
They feel like pure love:
But their kisses can hurt like a sharp beak.