Meditation (Thais) By Massenet

This is a great piece to look at with focus on tension and release, because the piece uses a lot of it and it is always very clearly shown, usually with dynamics and also with rhythm and pitch. The first "climax" is in bar 15, where the melody reaches the highest note so far and has a huge crescendo leading up to it, so that it is played f. It is also a rhythmic cadence, because there is a dramatic change in note lengths just before it (semiquavers to crotchets and then finally a minim). This seems to slow down the melody, causing even greater tension. The semiquaver notes are disjunct also, meaning that the melodic tension is heightened. Finally, the note is on the first beat of the bar- the strongest, which adds to the climax.

There are also many places in the piece where smaller climaxes are reached, for example in bar 23, where the dynamic is piu f, however although this is "more than forte" (therefore bigger than the big climax before), the context means that it does not seem so big. This illustrates an important point, that context is very important in defining climaxes/ tension.

There are also small climaxes each time the main melody returns, the B, C# and D is a climactic phrase (with the D being debatably the most tense of the three). Just before it there are triplet notes that create greater tension because they are disjunct.

The piece is written for solo violin and orchestra, which means that on the more tense notes the other strings come in and create extra depth to the sound and thickness to the texture, which is much more tense and grand.