Sheet Music: A Serpina penserete

TitleA Serpina penserete
from La serva padrona
ComposerGiovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710–1736)
InstrumentationFlute and Piano
KeyB-flat major
RangeD4–G5
Time signature4/4
Tempo34 BPM
Performance time3:20
Difficulty levelintermediate
Download printable scorePDF Sheet Music (149 kB) (preview)
Download audio tracksMIDI (change tempo/key) MP3 (2.8 MB)
Play-along accompanimentMIDI (change tempo/key) MP3 (2.8 MB)
Date added2009-11-03
Last updated2009-11-03
Download popularity index☆☆☆☆☆ 2.3 (above average)
Categories
Arias, Baroque, Opera excerpts

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Tuesday 3 November 2009

Tune of the Day: A Serpina penserete

from G.B. Pergolesi's opera “La serva padrona”

La serva padrona (“The Servant Mistress”) is an opera buffa (a comic opera) by Italian composer Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710–1736). The whole opera is only 45 minutes long, and was originally performed as an intermezzo between the acts of a larger opera.

La serva padrona is often seen as the quintessential piece that bridges the gap from the Baroque to the Classical period. Owing to its importance, over time it came to be known as more than just an intermezzo and was performed as a stand-alone work.

The aria “A Serpina penserete” (“You will think of Serpina”) is taken from the second part of the opera. Serpina, a maidservant, has come up with a trick to get her master Uberto, an elderly bachelor, to marry her. She tells him that she has found a handsome man to marry and then, in melodramatic sorrow, laments how Uberto will probably forget her after she is gone.