"Think of Me" from Phantom of the Opera

"Think of Me" from The Phantom of the Opera. Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Lyrics by Charles Hart. Performed by Sarah Brightman.

This is a pretty famous song and a pretty famous show, so I don't feel like I need to include much background information, but I would like to include a little bit. An opera company is in rehearsal for a new opera they are putting on. The primadona who is supposed to be singing the aria quits the show, and at the last minute Christine takes her place. At the beginning of the song, they are still in rehearsal, and she is singing it for the director and producers for the first time. The music starts out very timidly, the only accompaniment is arpeggiated I chords. When Christine comes in it is very hushed and shy. This is for a dramatic purpose... she begins timidly but throughout the piece her voice gets bigger and bigger with her newfound confidence. (Unlike Emmy Rossum in the movie who just kind of had a light not yet fully developed voice which never got any bigger throughout the song... but that is beside the point)
The melody is full of octave leaps. When the first verse begins, the orchestra comes in beautifully and plays the melody again, but the music has modulated to a higher key. The orchestra plays for 8 measures, and during this time the scene is changed from rehearsal to the actual performance. The texture in the orchestra is a lot more full under the vocal line now because all of the instruments are playing. She is now singing the melody in full voice and it is gorgeous.
At the B section there is a meter change from 4/4 to 12/8. There are now mostly half notes instead of quarter notes and eighth notes. Both of these factors cause the tempo to slow down a great deal.
When the melody comes back again, it is at a very hushed volume and sounds expressive and almost secretive. There is a huge crescendo at the end of the line when she sings up the scale on half notes and hold out a high do. There is a brief orchestra break, and Raoul (an old childhood friend of Christine) sings about her from the balcony. Christine comes in once more and sings the motive that has appeared throughout the song, and then comes the big finish. The cadenza at the end of this song is pretty impressive (especially for musical theatre music) and quite well known. The orchestra joins back in with Christine on the final and highest note, which of course has a formatta over it. Once again I will end my entry saying... what a great show! Hey DePauw faculty... this is a little more classical... can I sing something from Phantom??? Huh??? Please??? :-)