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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Gambara by Honore de Balzac: ballets, which interrupt the thread of the finest musical tragedies!
But Mahomet elevates it once more by his great prophetic scene, which
poor Monsieur Voltaire begins with these words:
"Arabia's time at last has come!
"He is interrupted by a chorus of triumphant Arabs (twelve-eight time,
/accelerando/). The tribes arrive in crowds; the horns and brass
reappear in the orchestra. General rejoicings ensue, all the voices
joining in by degrees, and Mahomet announces polygamy. In the midst of
all this triumph, the woman who has been of such faithful service to
Mahomet sings a magnificent air (in B major). 'And I,' says she, 'am I
no longer loved?' 'We must part. Thou art but a woman, and I am a
Gambara |
