Editor: David Nutter, text: Battista Guarini (Italian). Wert was one of the leading composers of Italian secular music between Cipriano de Rore and Claudio Monteverdi (his eventual successor as music director at the court of Mantua). In Canzone, by dividing Guarini's continuous text into units, Wert creates a narrative cycle articulated musically by means of a sequence of five discrete yet interrelated madrigals. Fazer Editions of Early Music is a choral series under the editorial supervision of Paul Hillier, founder and artistic director of the renowned Hilliard Ensemble. Although each title in this series is the result of careful scholarly research and is a reliable source for musicologists, the series' main purpose is to make practical performing editions available to choirs and other vocal ensembles. The original C clefs have been replaced by G and F clefs and the note values adapted to conform to modern practice. All the works in the series are intended for mixed voices.

Each title includes a lengthy introduction in English and notes on the editorial principles. Where necessary, an English translation of the text and a guide to pronunciation are provided.