Links to love-themed music in the book that will melt your heart:
Se tu m’ami (If You Love Me) by Giovanni Pergolosi or Alessandro Parisotti:
Caterina hears this being sung in the watery darkness as she heads in a gondola to meet Giacomo at Teatro San Samuele.
What is a Youth? by Nino Rota:
This song was written in 1968 for Franco Zefferelli’s Romeo and Juliet (my all-time favorite movie and inspiration for several scenes in the book.) This song inspired me in writing about Giacomo singing about roses for Caterina in the garden of San Biagio on Giudecca. Copyright laws meant I could not include it in the book without a lot of hurdles, but I thought readers might enjoy listening to it. It’s sooo gorgeous.
Ah, Robin, gentle Robin by William Cornysh:
At the convent, Arcangela sings this song in church as the nuns and boarders wait for the service to start. I heard this song at an early music concert and fell in love with its haunting sound.
O leggiadri occhi belli (O graceful, lovely eyes) by a 16th-century anonymous composer:
There are more “fancy” versions of this song on YouTube, but this is the one that inspired me for the scene when Filippo sings to Leda. There’s something so honest about it, I could listen a hundred times (and I have). Sigh