Description

Based on the glorious Meditation from Massenet’s opera Thaïs and originally arranged for mezzo-soprano, violin, organ ad lib. and piano, Ave Maria has …recently been transcribed by David Heyes with the double bass replacing the violin alongside the removal of the organ part. Thaïs was premiered in 1894 and the arrangement with soprano was published the same year, obviously to boost printed music sales. Meditation for solo violin from Act Two was instantly popular and, never wanting to waste a good tune and with no mention of an arranger, it seems likely that Massenet created the version for mezzo- soprano, violin and piano, alongside an edition for voice and piano. This new edition includes accompaniments for both solo and orchestral tunings. The three-act opera Thaïs was composed in 1890, to a libretto by Louis Gallet, after Anatole France’s novel, and was first produced in Paris on 16 March 1894. It is set in 4th-century Egypt and tells how the monk Athanael converts the courtesan Thaïs, who becomes a nun, but loses her soul in the process. Meditation is played between Scenes 1 and 2 of Act Two.