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Gli amori d'Apollo e di Dafne
(The Loves of Apollo and Daphne) (1640, arr.1982)Libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello, with German translation by Richard Bletschacher (I,G)
2S,2S(orM),2M,CT,T,5Bar,5B; chorus; ballet
3recorders(III ad lib).2.2.corA.2-0.0.3.0-continuo(org,theorbo,lute,
harp,2hpd)-strings (variable scoring)
Abbreviations (PDF)
Boosey & Hawkes
| HYPNOS, god of sleep | Bass |
| MORPHEUS, god of human dreams | Tenor |
| ITATHON, god of animal dreams | Mezzo Soprano |
| PANTHEUS, god of inanimate dreams | Baritone |
| JUPITER, father of the gods | Baritone |
| VENUS, goddess of love and beauty | Mezzo Soprano |
| AMOR, son of Venus, god of love | Soprano |
| APOLLO, god of the sun and singing | Countertenor |
| AURORA, god of the rising sun | Soprano (or Mezzo) |
| TITHONOS, husband of Aurora, a half-god | Tenor |
| PAN, god of shepherds and herdsfolk | Tenor |
| PENEIOS, a river god, father of Daphne | Bass Baritone |
| DAPHNE, a nymph, daughter of Peneios | Soprano (or Mezzo) |
| PHILENE, a nymph, an older friend of Daphne | Soprano |
| KEPHALOS, beloved of Aurora | Tenor |
| PROKRIS, abandoned lover of Kephalos | Mezzo Soprano |
| CIRILLA, a little old woman | Tenor |
| ALFESIBEO, a learned dream reader | Bass |
| nymphs and shepherds | Chorus |
| Muses | Chorus |
Greece, Ancient times
Aurora, the goddess of dawn, leaves her impotent husband Tithonus to drive Apollo’s chariot. She meets Cephalus, who has abandoned his wife Procris for Aurora. He is jealous of Tithonus, but she reassures him of her love, though she cannot stay with him. Venus sends her son Cupid to punish Apollo, who has offended her. In the forest the nymph Daphne rejoices in her freedom: she wants nothing to do with love. Her friend Philena warns her that life without love is worthless. Apollo, hunting in Thessaly, sees Daphne. Cupid fires an arrow at him, causing him to fall in love with her. Despite Philena’s entreaties she rejects him and begs her father Peneios to save her, but the best he can do is to turn her into a laurel tree. Apollo is heartbroken, but the forest god Pan consoles him by telling him that when he was rejected by Syrinx he made her into a pipe so that he could kiss her whenever he wanted.
Poetic, Romantic