Mohr

Nel Cor Piu Non Mi Sento: Text Interpretation

7th & 8th Grade Choir
Standards:
ART.M.IV.8 Understand, analyze, and describe the arts in their historical, social, and cultural
contexts.
ART.M.V.8 Recognize, analyze, and describe connections among the arts; between the arts
and other disciplines; between the arts and everyday life.

Objectives:
• Students will be able to articulate the meaning of Nel Cor Piu Non Mi Sento by relating it to a current
music by re-writing the text as if it were for a modern pop song.
• Students will learn about the history of Nel Cor Piu Non Mi Sento and how the performance
of the piece has changed over time.
• Students will also examine the direct effects that the text of the piece has on the music and learn the
term: text painting.

Materials:
• Sheet music for Nel Cor Piu Non Mi Sento
• Paper and writing utensils
• Sound system
• Piano

Texts:
• Nel Cor Piu Non Mi Sento arranged by Thomas Juneau
• 28 Italian Songs and Arias of the 17th and 18th Centuries published by Schirmer - excerpt explanatory
page on Nel Cor Piu Non Mi Sento
• Youtube videos: performances of the aria, and the theme and variations from it by Beethoven and
Paganini.

Knowledge Gaps:
The sheet music that the choir has includes a translation of the Italian text. However, many of the students
will not have read this and be familiar with it. Also, it is unlikely that they will really relate the meaning
to the Italian words while singing, so it may be helpful to annotate the translation in alongside the actual
sheet music. The text is also written poetically and is not the most relatable to the students.
In addition, the students do not or may not know any of the history surrounding this aria. It may be
necessary to explain basics of the plot, what an aria is, and how this version of the piece is different from
its original iteration.

Introduction:
The students will be asked to explain the meaning or provide a translation of Nel Cor Piu Non Mi Sento
without looking at their music. It is anticipated that students will not know the meaning of the piece. The
instructor will use this to prompt a discussion about the importance of understanding the text of a piece in
order to convey that meaning to an audience and other benefits.

Teaching Sequence:
• Ask for two student volunteers to read the “performance notes” section of the piece out loud. Every
other student should have their music out and be following along.
• The instructor will provide an explanation for any terms in the performance notes that the students
are unfamiliar with.
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• EXPLAIN how we got to this version of the song today by providing historical context from the 28
Italian Songs and Arias excerpt.
• Republished as a set of arias for solo voice in 1885 that has kept getting passed down today as the
24 or 28 Italian songs and arias.
• Provide some background on the plot of the original opera.
• Explain that this song has retained fame while the rest of the opera has not—it is now a standalone
piece of art that is not presented as part of its original work. This setting has been rearranged by
famous composers, most notably Beethoven and Paganini for piano and violin respectively.

• Go down the line, each person reading one line of the text using the provided translation.
• “I want you to read it dramatically!” This is meant almost to be an acting exercise and can be a
moment of fun. In a larger class not everyone needs to read or the text can be repeated.

• The goal of the lesson is to put meaning with the text. Show that the composer has already built things
into the music to express the text- this is a technique in music known as “text painting.” The instructor
will point out the following examples or will ask the choir if they have noticed any of them so far.
Demonstrations will be sung of played on the piano.
• Tormenta in measure 14
• Stuzzichi in measure 20
• Pieta in measure 25

• Give students 5-7 minutes to create their own translations. Students will take the translated English text
and create lyrics that they might use in a modern pop song or poem. Alternatively this lesson could be
done by having students translate the Italian word for word and then create a modern, cohesive
translation.
• Students will work with members of their section in small groups to come up with a translation line
by line.
• Play the Beethoven piano theme and variations mentioned earlier while they work in their groups.

• Once the student translations have been completed, the students will share them with the rest of the
class. Their translations will serve as a written assessment of how well they understand the meaning of
the text. Translations will be turned in and can be used in future lessons to engage students with the
text.

• As a final assessment, students will sing through the piece working to add the emotion into their
performance. Students will be asked to have Italian on the outside, and English on the inside!

Learner/text engagement:
While the learning of the history and basics of music theory will not be the most interesting to
the students, it is very helpful to come to a better understanding of the aria. This portion of the
lesson will be kept simple because the students do not have a large historical or theoretical
knowledge from which to build off from.
Making sure that the students understand what they sing is of vital importance. They need to
have Italian on the outside, but English on the inside. One way to get them to really engage with
the lesson is going to be to have them rephrase/rewrite the text in language they understand
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better. Relating this aria to songs that they already know is another way to increase their interest
and engagement with the text and lesson.