TO THE MOST MAGNFICENT AND REVERED

Although the affection that we have for Your Excellency is already well known and does not require any further evidence, we still felt that we were lacking in our duty by not giving any new signs of it. Thus, whereas we are publishing some of our Madrigals, we deemed it appropriate to dedicate them to Your Excellency, confident in your kindness and believing that they will be as pleasing to you as they are dear to us, especially as we present them to you, whose courtesy and humanity we have always experienced, especially in your home, a haven for the virtuous, for which we are deeply affectionate and grateful; and we beg you to consider us as such, for we kiss your hand. From Rome, 10 January 1581.

From Your Excellency’s

Affectionate Servants

Giovanni Maria Nanino & Annibale Stabile.