This arrangement was modified in its edition and violin indications. A very clean piano part was written. Very good edition of the entire score.

The Méditation is an instrumental entr'acte performed between the scenes of Act II in the opera Thaïs. In the first scene of Act II, Athanaël, a Cenobite monk, confronts Thaïs, a beautiful and hedonistic courtesan and devotée of Venus, and attempts to persuade her to leave her life of luxury and pleasure and find salvation through God. It is during a time of reflection following the encounter that the Méditation is played by the orchestra. In the second scene of Act II, following the Méditation, Thaïs tells Athanaël that she will follow him to the desert.

The piece is in D major and is approximately five minutes long (although there are a number of interpretations that stretch the piece to over six minutes). 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 (which could mean either strictly in the tempo or literally with religiously-founded emotion) and at walking tempo, or around 60 BPM. The piece opens with a short introduction, 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 piano while playing harmonics on the upper register as the piano quietly play below the solo line.

18 Easy Gospel Hymns Vol.1 for Solo Cello and Piano is a beautiful collection of your best-loved Gospel Hymns and Spirituals. They are arranged simply in the most suitable range and key for the solo instrument. The preview only shows a few pages of the piano score, but this is followed by a separate solo instrumental part, adding up to 49 pages of quality music.

The standard is early intermediate. Players with a year or two?s experience will enjoy playing these Gospel hymns, with plenty of interest in both the solo and the piano parts. These hymns are ideal for use in concerts or worship, formal or informal. The hymns are in alphabetical order and are as follows

· Abide with Me,

· Amazing Grace,

· Blessed Assurance,

· Deep River,

· Down by the Riverside,

· Go Down Moses,

· Go Tell It on the Mountain,

· He?s Got the Whole World in HIs Hands,

· Higher Ground,

· Jesus on the Mainline,

· Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho,

· Just a Closer Walk with Thee,

· Just as I Am,

· Just Over in the Glory Land,

· Kumbaya My Lord,

· Love Lifted Me,

· Nobody Knows the Trouble I?ve Seen,

· Nothing but the Blood of Jesus.

If you like these Gospel Hymns, then there are another eighteen just like them in Volume 2. To find them copy and paste 18 Easy Gospel Hymns Vol.2 for Solo Cello and Piano in the Search Bar above. There are also duet versions of these Gospel hymns available on Sheet Music Plus, and more advanced duet arrangements of your Gospel favourites in the 10 Gospel Duets series.

To keep up with new titles, search for Dave McKeown Sheet Music Downloads on Facebook.

There are many more top quality arrangements and compositions by David McKeown for you to browse at http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/publishers/david-mckeown/6203

In the key of A-minor, an arpeggiated piano part underscores an expressive, singing cello line in tenor clef. Accessible to an advanced intermediate cellist, however the piano part never stops and will require an experienced pianist, even though the tempo is Adagio.