MASSENET, JULES. (1842-1912). French composer; the most prolific and important French opera composer of his time. AMusQS. (“M[aitre]. Massenet”). 1p. Small 8vo. Paris, April 7, 1909. Four measures from his opera Thais.

Massenet’s influence on turn-of-the-century French music was profound. Not only did his many operas bridge the transition from a traditional to a more modern style, but his teaching at the Paris Conservatory beginning in 1878 shaped the work of nearly every major French composer of his era. Massenet’s numerous compositions for voice, piano, orchestra, and chorus – now largely forgotten – have been eclipsed by the success of such operas as Werther, Sapho, Manon, and Thaïs.

Massenet devoted much of 1892 to the composition of Thaïs, based on Anatole France’s 1890 novel of the same name. Its story involving a Cenobite monk’s attempts to convert an Alexandrian courtesan, his former lover, to Christianity, combines the spiritual and the carnal. Thaïs premiered at the Opéra Garnier on March 16, 1894.

Neatly written on a lightly folded sheet affixed to a larger piece of black paper. In fine condition.