SSAATBB, unaccompanied
Editor’s Choice, J.W. Pepper

NOTE FROM THE COMPOSER

Michelangelo di  Lodovico Buonarroti (simply known to us as “Michelangelo”) is  known for painting, architecture, and sculpture.  What is less known is Michelangelo’s literary output.  He wrote over 300 sonnets and madrigals, and was a leading literary scholar in Florence.  It is difficult, if not inconceivable, that ONE individual without computers, calculators, and any of the modern amenities we have today – had such a dominant influence in so many disciplines.   In fact – 500 years later – no one has matched this dominance since.  The name, “Michelangelo” is a household name in the 21st century.

Michelangelo’s Sonnet was commissioned by the Oklahoma Choral Directors Association.  The text is in Italian.  The essence of the secular text (in English) says, “Love takes me captive, beauty binds my soul.”