Jules Massenet – Thaïs: Meditation
"Méditation" is a symphonic intermezzo from the opera Thaïs by French composer Jules Massenet. The piece is written for solo violin and orchestra.
The Méditation is an instrumental
entr'acte performed between the scenes of Act II in the opera Thaïs.
The piece is in D major and is
approximately five minutes long
Massenet may also have written
the piece with religious intentions; the tempo marking is Andante religioso,
signifying his intention that it should be played religiously and at walking
tempo, or around 60 BPM.
The piece opens with a short
introduction by the harps, with the solo violin quickly entering with the
motif. After the violin plays the melody twice, the piece goes into a section
marked animato, gradually becoming more and more passionate (Massenet wrote
poco a poco appassionato). The climax is reached at a place marked poco piu
appassionato (a little more passion) and is then followed by a short
cadenza-like passage from the soloist and returns to the main theme. After the
theme is played twice, the soloist joins the orchestra while playing harmonics
on the upper register as the harps and strings quietly play below the solo
line.
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